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ILLUSTRATED 

SOUTH  AMERICA 


A  Chicago  Publisher's  Travels  and 
Investigations  in  the  Republics  of 
South  America,  with  500  Photo- 
graphs of  People  and  Scenes  from 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama  to  the 
Straits  of  Magellan 


By 

W.  D.  BOYCE 

Publisher  of  the  "Chicago  Saturday  Blade" 
and  the  "Chicago  Ledger" 


RAND    McNALLY  &  COMPANY 
CHICAGO  NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHT,  1912 

BY 
W.  D.  BOYCE 


INTRODUCTORY 

IN  ORDER  to  judge  a  piece  of  work  fairly,  one  should  know 
the  conditions  under  which  it  was  done.  To  any  one  who 
may  feel  inclined  to  question  the  manner  or  matter  of  these 
pages,  I  would  like  to  state  that  the  contents  of  this  book 
was  originally  "newspaper  copy,"  prepared  under  extremely 
differing  conditions  of  time,  scene  and  place.  The  articles 
were  written,  not  in  the  quiet  of  a  library,  but  "in  the  field," 
necessarily  varying  in  style  and  quality,  with  the*  influences  of 
the  time  and  surroundings  entering  into  them.  They  were 
written  from  sea  level  to  18,000  feet  among  the  clouds ;  from 
the  equator  to  fifty-six  degrees  south  latitude;  from  regions 
where  rain  never  falls  to  regions  where  the  rainfall  is  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  inches  per  annum;  from  sections  where  men 
wear  fur  overcoats  to  sections  where  men  wear  almost  no 
clothing  at  all ;  they  were  written  on  every  sort  of  water  craft 
from  ocean-going  vessels  to  the  crude  balsas  of  the  Amazon 
headwaters;  on  almost  every  species  of  rail  vehicle  from  a 
luxurious  private  car  to  a  "caboose"  filled  with  peons ;  one  was 
written  in  the  midst  of  an  earthquake  in  Peru,  others  in  the 
midst  of  a  Paraguayan  revolution ;  some  were  written  in  wild 
Indian-inhabited  forests  of  far  interior  Ecuador,  others  on  the 
silent  wheat  plains  of  Argentina,  and  others  among  the  coffee 
plantations  of  Brazil ;  they  were  often  written  sitting  up  in  bed 
at  midnight  or  on  "joggling"  trains  in  heat  and  dust,  and  some- 
times in  the  quiet  of  hotels  that  were  much  like  palaces ;  they 
were  written  from  information  gathered  all  the  way  from  the 
negative  and  affirmative  grunts  of  Indians  to  notes  made  while 
interviewing  the  President  of  every  South  American  republic. 
Hence  the  reader  need  not  be  surprised  should  he  find  the 
matter  "newsy"  rather  than  historic,  and  the  literary  manner  as 
uneven  and  changeful  as  the  country  and  experiences  through 
which  the  writer  passed. 

vii 

271100 


viii  INTRODUCTORY 

The  fact  that  human  progress  has  followed  the  sun's  course 
long  since  gave  rise  to  the  famous  phrase,  "Westward  the  star 
of  empire  takes  its  way."  Round  the  world  from  old  Asia, 
pressing  forward  through  thousands  of  years,  the  rising  tide 
of  civilization  has  followed  the  sunset;  across  Western  Asia, 
Continental  Europe,  through  the  British  Isles,  across  North 
America  to  the  Pacific  coast,  across  the  ocean  to  Japan,  and 
across  Japan  to  China,  in  old  Asia,  where  modern  progress  is 
now  sweeping  away  the  ancient  order  of  things.  Having  com- 
pleted the  circle  of  the  globe,  the  human  stream  of  civilization 
is  broadening,  flowing  off  into  the  open  spaces,  chiefly  to 
the  southward.  In  Africa  and  South  America  is  found  the 
greatest  amount  of  open  or  sparsely  settled  space;  toward 
those  fields  the  human  tide  of  power  and  progress  is  flowing. 
Will  we  presently  be  saying,  "Southward  the  star  of  empire 
takes  its  way  ?"  Perhaps,  Certainly,  in  the  centuries  to  come, 
in  Africa  and  South  America  great  nations  will  flourish,  pos- 
sibly greater  nations  than  the  world  has  ever  known ;  hence, 
those  continents  and  their  opportunities  and  present  state  of 
development  become  vastly  important  and  interesting. 

Because  the  greater  part  of  South  America  lies  in  the 
tropics,  the  very  thought  of  it  arouses  the  imagination.  Like 
Africa,  it  is  a  country  of  astounding  contrasts,  and  for  that 
reason  invites  and  interests  the  traveler.  Topographically, 
South  America  contains  enormous  table-lands  that  are  beauti- 
ful and  tillable,  contrasted  with  almost  impassable  mountain 
ranges  and  miasmatic  lowlands  and  vast  forest-choked  valleys ; 
politically,  in  some  sections  statesmanship  has  changed  once 
chaotic  elements  into  peace  and  order,  in  other  regions  the  vio- 
lence of  revolution  is  still  in  action ;  socially,  there  is  every 
contrast  conceivable  from  semi-barbarism  and  peonage  to  re- 
finement and  riches,  and  from  bloody  outlawry  to  the  unselfish 
followers  of  the  Man  of  Galilee.  Hence  this  quarter  of  the 
world  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  read  about. 

There  are  numerous  special  aspects  of  South  America  that 
attract  travelers.  In  truth,  one  can  find  unusual  material  there 
for  almost  any  sort  of  investigation.  If  one  has  a  preference 
for  the  study  of  ancient  human  groups  one  can  investigate,  for 
instance,  the  strange  story  of  the  ancient  Incas  of  Peru,  or  the 


INTRODUCTORY  ix 

Chibcha  Indians  of  Colombia,  who  seem  to  have  been  highly 
civilized  when  they  were  discovered,  centuries  ago,  and  who 
investigators  have  thought  were,  possibly,  colonies  from  pre- 
historic Atlantis,  the  fabled  continent  that  Plato  says  was 
submerged  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  If  one  wishes  to  study  the 
history  and  effects  of  conquest,  one  will  find  the  descendants 
and  influences  of  the  Spanish  conquerors  everywhere  in  South 
America;  if  one  wants  to  compare  and  estimate  the  effects  of 
peace  and  war,  one  can  find  regions  torn  and  ruined  by  violence 
and  revolution,  as  well  as  regions  that  are  peaceful  and  ex- 
ceedingly prosperous ;  if  one  is  a  naturalist,  he  can  find  beasts 
and  birds,  snakes  and  bugs,  and  flowers  and  trees  in  South 
America  that  grace,  or  disgrace,  as  the  case  may  be,  no  other 
part  of  the  planet ;  if  one  cares  to  study  men  and  women  one 
will  find  very  handsome  human  "specimens,"  both  male  and 
female,  in  South  America,  as  well  as  numerous  samples  of  the 
genus  homo  that  are  an  affliction  to  the  eye  and  a  shock  to  the 
mind.  Personally,  I  was  chiefly  attracted  to  South  America 
by  the  feeling  that  it  is  to  constitute  the  world's  next  great 
arena  of  human  activity  and  development.  I  wished,  chiefly, 
to  examine  its  tillable  areas,  to  study  its  natural  resources,  to 
estimate  its  business  opportunities,  to  see  what  the  people  were 
like,  what  were  their  wants  and  customs  and  how  the  popula- 
tion was  distributed,  and  whether  or  not  the  business  men  of 
the  United  States  were  getting  their  natural  and  rightful  share 
of  the  trade  of  this  neighboring  half  of  the  hemisphere. 

Few  people,  I  believe,  appreciate  the  radical  difference  be- 
tween the  basic  human  stock  of  South  and  North  America. 
The  Indian  race  in  the  southern  half  of  the  hemisphere  was 
always,  by  reason  of  dissimilar  food  and  environment,  different 
from  the  red  race  of  the  North ;  also,  the  original  pioneer  white 
men  of  South  America  and  North  America  were  totally  differ- 
ent in  origin,  aim  and  character.  The  North  American  Indians 
were  a  robust  meat-eating  race,  who  flourished  in  a  land  filled 
with  deer,  antelope,  buffalo  and  many  sorts  of  game.  They 
lived  by  killing  things,  and  grew  big  and  savage.  The  South 
American  red  men  developed  in  a  country  almost  destitute  of 
game,  hence  they  were  of  necessity  vegetarians;  there  being 
very  little  to  kill  for  food,  they  learned  to  till  the;' soil.  As  a 


x  INTRODUCTORY 

consequence,  though  less  robust,  they  became  in  favorable 
regions  semi-civilized.  Turning  to  the  white  man's  basic  stock 
in  North  America,  we  find  an  honest  and  pious  people,  who 
had  fled  from  religious  or  political  persecution,  while  the  pioneer 
white  stock  of  South  America  was,  to  be  truthful,  simply  a  body 
of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  cutthroats  and  robbers.  The  South 
American  people  developed  from  a  fusion  of  the  blood  of  the 
Indians  and  these  Portuguese  and  Spanish  daredevils,  while 
we  beat  back  our  Indians  and  refused  to  fuse  with  them.  The 
contrast  of  origins  is  sharp  and  clear,  the  results  natural  and 
instructive.  We  have  developed  a  great  nation  with  but  one 
real  revolution  and  but  one  internal  war ;  the  South  Americans 
have  passed  through  scores  of  wars  and  hundreds  of  bloody 
revolutions.  In  regions  there  are  still  disturbances,  but  the 
racial  fire  is  dying  down  under  civilization,  the  old  Spanish- 
Indian  blood  is  beginning  to  cool.  Yet,  they  remain  a  dis- 
tinctly "spicy"  and  picturesque  people,  and  their  condition  and 
achievements  are  entirely  worth  studying. 

To  a  son  of  Uncle  Sam  it  is  hardly  possible  to  consider  the 
southern  half  of  the  hemisphere  without  thought  of  the 
"Monroe  Doctrine,"  that  strong  unwritten  law  which  says  that 
the  Americas  are  strictly  for  Americans,  that  no  monarchical 
Government  of  the  Old  World  shall  gain  further  foothold  in 
the  New.  The  idea  itself,  no  doubt,  had  been  long  growing 
among  the  American  people,  but  when  President  James 
Monroe,  in  his  historic  message  of  December  2d,  1823,  flatly 
announced  it,  the  world  was  astonished.  The  position  he  took 
was  that  American  policy  was  and  had  been  not  to  interfere  in 
the  Governmental  affairs  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  that 
a  like  attitude  on  the  part  of  European  Governments  toward 
the  republics  of  the  Western  World  would  henceforth  be 
demanded.  At  that  time  the  reactionary  Holy  Alliance  was 
tightening  its  grip  on  Europe,  and  it  looked  as  if  the  Great 
Powers  might  countenance  Spain  in  an  attempt  to  reconquer 
her  revolting  colonies  in  the  Western  Hemisphere.  Monroe's 
edict  put  an  end  to  Spain's  dream  of  re-conquest.  After  that 
the  republics  of  South  and  Central  America  stood  secure  with 
the  United  States  behind  them.  With  the  United  States  virtu- 
ally pledged  always  to  come  to  their  aid  at  any  time  should 


INTRODUCTORY  xi 

danger  threaten  them  from  the  Old  World,  I  believe  they  will 
continue  to  stand  secure  until  they  have  worked  out  their 
destiny.  After  my  long  journey  and  investigation  of  South 
American  countries,  I  am  more  than  ever  impressed  with  the 
timely  wisdom  of  Monroe's  decision  and  the  necessity  of  con- 
tinuance of  his  famous  "doctrine." 

Before  going  to  South  America  I  confess  that  my  knowl- 
edge of  that  collection  of  republics,  as  with  most  busy  Ameri- 
cans, was  not  very  deep  or  accurate;  besides,  having  read  for 
the  most  part  about  their  weakness  for  revolutions,  I  was  not 
inclined  to  think  much  of  them.  However,  after  over  forty 
thousand  miles  of  travel  and  over  a  year  spent  in  actively 
studying  all  parts  of  the  South  American  continent,  I  returned 
deeply  impressed  with  the  vastness  of  the  resources  of  that 
country  and  with  grateful  and  pleasant  appreciation  of  many 
of  its  people. 

Something  written  by  a  traveler  in  South  America  may 
have  furnished  the  first  real  impulse  that  resulted  in  my  long 
journey.  He  said :  "The  physical  features  of  South  America 
are  on  a  more  gigantic  scale  than  in  North  America.  Its 
mountains  as  a  rule  are  higher,  its  rivers  broader  and  deeper, 
its  forests  more  impenetrable,  and  these  features  have  pre- 
sented obstacles  to  man  which  have  daunted  and  delayed  him  in 
the  conquest  of  the  country.  It  is  as  if  this  continent  were 
waiting  for  a  later  race  of  giants,  who  with  scientific  and 
mechanical  skill  superior  to  any  yet  achieved,  shall  be  able  to 
subdue  this  richest  of  all  continents,  which  yet  guards  its 
wealth  so  securely."  It  occurred  to  me  that  the  "later  race  of 
giants,  with  superior  mechanical  skill,"  had  perhaps  already 
been  born  in  the  racial  melting  pot  of  the  United  States,  and 
ultimately  might  aid  materially  in  the  predicted  development. 
Hence  my  conclusion  to  "spy  out  the  future  land  of  promise," 
and  embody  the  impressions  of  what  I  saw  and  heard  in  letters 
to  the  5,000,000  readers  of  my  newspaper,  The  Chicago  Satur- 
day Blade,  and  finally  to  incorporate  them  in  a  book  that  might 
prove  useful  to  others. 

In  assembling  my  party  I  reversed  the  policy  followed  in 
my  African  shooting  and  photographing  expedition.  In  that 
country  I  had  a  very  large  party  (nine  white  men  and  four 


xii  INTRODUCTORY 

hundred  porters),  but  I  determined  to  go  to  South  America 
"light,"  and,  both  in  luggage  and  human  units,  equipped  solely 
for  efficiency.  In  leaving  the  United  States  I  attached  to  my- 
self a  secretary,  Mr.  W.  N.  Gulick,  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
who  spoke  Spanish,  a  South  American  photographer,  Jorge 
Goytesola,  of  Lima,  Peru,  and  Charlie  Pollinaise,  my  personal 
servant,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  the  West  Indies  and  spoke 
Spanish,  French  and  several  Indian  dialects.  The  United 
States  Department  of  State  having  furnished  me  with  letters 
to  our  several  legations  in  the  South  American  republics,  and 
having  many  personal  letters  to  South  Americans  from  my  old 
college  friend,  Charles  M.  Pepper,  Assistant  Secretary  of 
State,  who  had  spent  a  year  in  South  America,  I  took  passage 
from  New  Orleans  on  December  21,  1910,  bound  for  Colon 
on  the  Isthmus.  I  was  going  on  a  very  long  journey  indeed. 
As  planned,  I  would  skirt  Central  America  on  the  east,  cross 
the  Isthmus  at  the  Panama  Canal,  enter  the  Pacific  and  go 
down  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  journeying  into  the 
interior  of  the  republics  of  Ecuador,  Peru,  Bolivia  and  Chile, 
then  take  passage  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan  to  the 
Falkland  Islands  in  the  Atlantic,  thence  northward  to  Argentina 
and  Uruguay,  Paraguay  and  Brazil,  then  up  the  mysterious 
Amazon  River,  and  finally  to  the  Guianas,  Venezuela,  Colombia, 
and  thence  to  the  United  States.  How  nearly  I  achieved  this 
rather  ambitious  undertaking  the  reader  may  judge  by  turning 
the  pages  that  follow. 

To  my  secretary,  photographer,  and  servant,  I  wish  to  ex- 
press my  heartfelt  thanks  for  their  faithful  assistance,  often 
under  very  trying  circumstances. 

Very  truly, 


CONTENTS 

PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL 

A PTER  PAGE 

I.       SOUTHWARD   BOUND   ' I 

II.       THE  CANAL  ZONE  AND  ITS  ORGANIZATION  .  .          15 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA 

III.       A  GLANCE  AT  THE  BABY  REPUBLIC  4<D 

/ 

ECUADOR 

IV.       A  LAND  OF  CONTRADICTIONS       .....         54 

PERU 

V.  PRESENT  AND  ANCIENT  PERU    .            .            .  79 

VI.  ON  THE  ROOF  OF  THE  WORLD     .....  IO6 

VII.  THE  ANCIENT  INCA  CAPITAL     .            .            .            .            .  121 

VIII.  HEADWATERS  OF  THE  AMAZON            .                                     .  I^-O 

IX.  JOURNEYS  IN   SOUTHERN  PERU         -.            .            .            .  I5& 

xiii 


xiv  CONTENTS 

I 
BOLIVIA 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

X.       BOLIVIA  AND  THE  WORLD'S  OLDEST  CITY  .             .  177 

CHILE 

XI.       SCENES  IN  NORTHERN  CHILE       .  .  2O2 

XII.       SANTIAGO  AND  CENTRAL  CHILE              .  .217 

XIII.       IN   SOUTHERN   CENTRAL  CHILE  .  233 

XIV.       PHASES  OF  CHILEAN  GOVERNMENT       .  .             .  245 

STRAITS  AND  FALKLAND  ISLANDS 

XV.       THROUGH  THE  STRAITS        .'            .   /,  !,f  •             •  258 

URUGUAY  ' 

xvi.    SOUTH  AMERICA'S  BATTLE-GROUND    .  .        .  271 

XVII.       PRESENT-DAY   URUGUAY       .             .            .  .             .  284 

ARGENTINA 

XVIII.       FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  ARGENTINA      .  .         * '.'.'  297* 

xix.     ARGENTINA'S     NATIONAL     AND     COMMERCIAL 

CAPITAL     ,.4     .     •'.      4.        .  .         .  310 

XX.     SOME  ITEMS  OF  ARGENTINIAN  HISTORY  .         .  333 

XXI.    TOURING  THROUGH  ARGENTINA         .  .         .  343 

xxii.     ARGENTINA'S  VINEYARDS  AND  TOWNS  .         .  361 

xxiii.    ARGENTINA'S  AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTS  .        .  378 

XXIV.      RACIAL  TYPES  AND  INDUSTRIES              .  .            .  386 

XXV.      THE  RANCHES  OF  ARGENTINA     .            .  .            .  395 


CONTENTS  xv 

/ 

PARAGUAY 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXVI.       INDIANS,  SPANISH,  DICTATORS,  RESULTS       .'           .  406 

XXVII.      LOPEZ  AND  LYNCH     .            .            .            .           ;;';          .  416 
XXVIII.       PARAGUAY  TODAY         ....           V            ..    429 

BRAZIL 

xxix.     BRAZIL'S  COFFEE  INDUSTRY       .        .        ,        .  443 

XXX.      BEAUTIFUL  RIO  DE  JANEIRO          ....  456 

XXXI.       HOW  BRAZIL  BECAME  A  REPUBLIC         .            .            .  484 

XXXII.      A  BRAZILIAN-AMERICAN  COLONY          .            .            .  492 

XXXIII.      IN  SOUTHERN  BRAZIL            .....  506 

XXXIV.       NORTH  AND  WEST  OF  RIO 512 

XXXV.      PARA  AND  THE  AMAZON  BASIN    ....  522 

XXXVI.       THE  MADEIRA  AND  MAMORE  RAILWAY           .            .  538 

THE  GUIANAS 

XXXVII.       THREE  UNIQUE  COLONIES               .            .                         .  547 

VENEZUELA 

XXXVIII.      AN  INTERESTING  COUNTRY                                               .  5^5 

XXXIX.      CURIOUS  SIGHTS  AND  FACTS      .                                      •  $&9 

COLOMBIA 

XL.      HOME  OF  ALLIGATORS  AND  ORCHIDS    .                        .  6lO 

XLI.      EXPLORING  THE  INTERIOR             ....  624 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH 
AMERICA 

PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE 

Canal  Zone  area,  448  square  miles — United  States  paid  Re- 
public of  Panama  $10,000,000  for  it — Panama  Raihvay,  48 
miles  long,  oivned  by  United  States — Canal  50  miles  in 
length;  estimated  cost  $400,000,000,  probable  final  cost 
over  $700,000,000 — People  employed  in  Canal  construc- 
tion approximately  35,000,  total  population  within  Canal 
Zone  about  75,000. 

CHAPTER  I. 
SOUTHWARD  BOUND. 

IN  LEAVING  the  United  States  I  took  passage  for  the 
Isthmus  by  what  is  known  as  the  "long  route,"  that  is 
to  say,  a  sea  course  that  leads  along  the  coast  of  Central 
America's  five  republics,  one  colony  of  Great  Britain  and  one 
State  of  the  Mexican  Republic.  I  was  going  to  investigate 
the  conditions  and  resources  of  South  America,  yet  I  watched 
with  keen  interest  the  shore  line  and  coast  towns  of  the  Central 
American  republics  as  we  passed  by  them. 

It  is  only  human  to  be  curious  about  our  neighbors,  and 
the  nearer  the  neighbors  live  to  us  the  more  eagerly  we  watch 
for  moments  when  their  window  shades  are  up. 

At  present  I  will  only  remark  that  Central  America  is 
reputed  to  be  the  real  home  of  revolutionists,  earthquakes,  vol- 
canoes, bananas,  tarantulas  (both  human  and  entomological), 
and  much  pleasant  sunshine.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  these  things  also  flourish  still  farther  south.  After  two 
days  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  first  land  we  sighted  was  the 
State  of  Yucatan,  the  southeastern  corner  of  (now)  Mexico. 
The  coast  is  low,  without  harbors,  and  thinly  settled. 

Presently  we  came  to  British  Honduras,  a  small  country. 

i 


2  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

but  well  governed  from  England,  and  with  one  port  of  some 
importance.  It  is  called  Belize.  The  grand  sport  of  getting 
up  revolutions  is  distinctly  unpopular  in  this  country,  and  the 
people  are  prosperous  and  at  peace.  Next  we  came  to  Guate- 
mala, the  most  progressive  of  the  Central  American  republics. 
In  Guatemala  they  take  no  chances  on  revolutionary  fires  break- 
ing out.  The  method  they  employ  to  "squelch"  such  perils, 
though  drastic,  is  very  effective.  As  soon  as  the  Government 
suspects  that  an  individual  harbors  a  desire  to  start  a  revolu- 
tion they  promptly  take  that  person  out  and  shoot  him.  It 
saves  a  deal  of  trouble  and  anxiety,  and  the  Government,  no 
doubt,  figures  that  in  the  end  it  also  saves  a  great  many  human 
lives.  All  telegrams  and  cablegrams  are  censored  by  the  Guate- 
malan Government,  and  it  has  refused  to  permit  a  wireless 
cable  station  to  be  installed  in  the  country,  being  evidently 
afraid  it  could  not  tell  what  messages  might  be  transmitted.  It 
seems  a  bit  "hidebound,"  doesn't  it?  But  they  do  not  have 
revolutions  and  are  quite  prosperous.  We  stopped  at  Barrios, 
the  only  port  on  the  eastern  coast,  where  we  landed  mail  and 
passengers.  Fourteen  of  our  twenty-four  passengers  disem- 
barked here  to  hurry  home,  the  following  day  being  Christmas. 
We  spent  Christmas  at  sea  off  the  uninviting  coast  of  Span- 
ish Honduras.  It  looked  to  be  a  "tipped  and  tumbled  country." 
A  famous  Honduranian  once  tersely  illustrated  the  topography 
of  his  country  when  he  crumpled  up  a  sheet  of  paper  and  threw 
it  upon  his  desk  and  said :  "That  is  an  outline  map  of  Hon- 
duras." We  stopped  at  Puerto  Cortez,  the  principal  seaport  on 
the  Atlantic  coast,  and  learned  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  coun- 
try were  just  then,  as  usual,  busy  with  a  revolution,  the  "ins" 
having  canceled  all  the  commercial  concessions  of  the  "outs," 
thus  exciting  another  tempest  in  the  much  shaken  Spanish 
Honduran  teapot. 

Six  hundred  miles  after  that  we  were  off  the  coast  of  Ni- 
caragua, where  a  successful  revolution  was  fought  out  three 
years  ago.  During  the  progress  of  that  historical  ruction  the 
United  States  Government  seemed  rather  partial  to  the  "outs," 
and  when  the  "outs"  became  the  "ins"  Uncle  Samuel  adroitly 
tucked  the  new  President  and  his  Government  under  the  protect- 
ing wing  of  the  American  eagle.  The  significance  of  this  is 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL      3 

that  if  they  do  not  behave  themselves  Uncle  Sam  will  have 
to  step  in  and  straighten  things  out.  Ultimately  this  will 
probably  occur. 

On  board  our  ship  there  was,  naturally,  a  great  deal  of  dis- 
cussion, pro  and  con,  relative  to  the  Panama  Canal.  Usually 
the  "pros"  seemed  to  have  the  best  of  the  argument.  The 
question  frequently  arose  as  to  what  nationality  of  men  were 
the  best  fitted  for  digging  the  big  ditch,  and  I  recall  a  story  that 
was  told.  Said  one  Irishman  to  another :  "Say,  Patrick,  what 
is  this  they  be  tellin'  me  ?  I  hear  ye  are  thinkin'  of  goin'  down 
to  work  on  the  Panama  Canal  ?" 

"I  am,"  replied  Patrick. 

"Sure,"  said  the  other,  "but  you'll  find  it  very  hot  down 
there,  as  much  as  115  degrees  in  the  shade,  they  tell  me." 

"Well,  what  of  it?"  said  Patrick.  "Ye  don't  think  I'll  be 
fool  enough  to  work  in  the  shade  all  the  toime,  do  ye  ?" 

An  interesting  gentleman,  seated  next  to  me  at  the  Captain's 
table,  during  the  voyage,  was  formerly  President  of  the  Re- 
public of  Costa  Rica.  From  him  I  gathered  much  valuable  in- 
formation relative  to  his  country.  He  had  been  long  absent, 
and  admitted  that  he  was  returning  with  a  broadened  mind, 
and  with  the  hope  that  his  countrymen  could  be  induced  to  see 
that  there  was  more  to  be  gained  by  pushing  affairs  along  com- 
mercial lines  than  in  perpetually  wrangling  over  the  offices. 

I  am  prompted  at  this  point  to  speak  critically  of  the  pe- 
culiar policy  of  my  own  country  in  the  matter  of  ocean  com- 
merce, since  the  vessel  on  which  I  sailed  was  a  representative 
illustration  of  the  absurdity  of  that  policy.  The  vessel  was 
owned  by  the  United  States  Fruit  Company,  a  United  States 
corporation,  commonly  called  the  "Fruit  Trust."  This  cor- 
poration owns  and  sails  under  foreign  flags  over  ninety  ships. 
These  were  built  abroad,  mostly  in  Scotland,  and  cost  about 
two-thirds  of  the  price  of  ships  of  equal  tonnage  and  quality  if 
built  in  American  ship  yards.  In  order  to  avoid  the  payment 
of  duties  imposed  by  the  United  States  they  fly  foreign  flags, 
and  have  officers  who  are  citizens  of  and  carry  papers  of 
foreign  countries.  Yet  our  United  States  ship  yards  compete 
with  and  undersell  foreign  countries  in  building  ships  for 
foreign  navies ! 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL      5 

This  is  a  United  States  corporation,  selling  all  its  fruit  in 
the  United  States,  and  controlling  the  tropical  fruit  market 
as  completely  as  the  Standard  Oil  Company  has  controlled  the 
oil  business.  In  the  event  of  war  with  a  foreign  nation  this 
"Fruit  Trust,"  being  a  United  States  corporation,  would  demand 
and  receive  protection  for  its  shore  property  from  the  strong 
arm  of  the  United  States.  It  is  rather  an  anomaly,  isn't  it? 
Captain  Lamb,  our  ship's  chief  officer,  was  an  Irishman ;  her 
purser,  a  Scotchman ;  her  chief  cook,  an  Englishman ;  her  flag, 
British ;  and  her  firemen  all  Chinamen.  Doubtless  all  the  com- 
pany's ninety  vessels  are  similarly  manned.  The  questions  that 
arise  are  these : 

1.  Why  should  the  ships  of  a  United  States  corporation 
fly  foreign  flags  ? 

2.  Why  should  our  Government  be  called  upon  to  protect 
the  shore  property  in  a  foreign  country  of  a  Trust  that  has  its 
ships  built  in  other  lands? 

3.  Why  should  not  our  laws  be  so  made  that  it  would  be 
possible  to  build  ships  in  the  United  States,  fly  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  and  officer  them  with  our  own  brave  men  ? 

During  the  two  years  immediately  preceding  my  journey 
to  South  America,  I  had  traveled  more  than  fifty  thousand 
miles  on  water,  and  in  that  time  had  been  in  many  of  the  chief 
ports  of  the  world,  but  with  the  exception  of  vessels  belonging 
to  our  navy,  and  private  yachts,  I  saw  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
floating  over  only  three  steamers !  Only  three,  mark  you,  out 
of  at  least  ten  thousand  ships  that  I  saw  in  different  ports  and 
passed  at  sea. 

Our  navy,  the  second  in  the  world,  was  built  and  is  main- 
tained chiefly  on  the  theory  that  we  should  be  able  to  protect 
our  "merchant  marine."  But  we  have  no  merchant  ships  flying 
our  flag  to  protect !  One  wonders  if,  as  a  people,  we  Ameri- 
cans are  really  as  wise  as  we  believe  ourselves  to  be.  , 

Arriving  at  Colon,  the  eastern  doorway  to  the  gigantic  the- 
ater of  the  Panama  Canal,  we  were  soon  busy  inspecting  the 
herculean  task  the  United  States  has  here  set  itself.  After 
some  riding  about  without  seeming  to  get  to  the  bottom  of 
things,  I  was  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  only  honest  way 
to  really  examine  the  big  ditch  was  to  get  right  into  it  and 


6  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

walk.  An  illustrative  incident  came  to  my  mind.  A  small  boy 
that  I  heard  about  wanted  to  buy  a  puppy,  and  went  to  a  man 
who  had  some  for  sale. 

"How  much  do  you  ask  for  your  little  dogs?"  he  asked 
politely. 

"Two  dollars  apiece,"  replied  the  man. 

"But  I  don't  want  a  piece— I  want  a  whole  dog,"  was  the 
boy's  reply. 

We  were  not  after  a  piece  of  the  canal,  but  the  whole  canal, 
so  we  walked  more  miles  than  the  reader  would  probably  be- 
lieve in  an  effort  to  get  the  whole  truth. 

As  an  achievement  the  canal  promises  to  be  one  of  the 
major  performances  of  the  human  race,  and  because  the 
changes  it  will  likely  effect  are  beyond  computation,  I  fancy 
that  a  a  few  paragraphs  relative  to  the  history  of  the  barrier 
here  being  pierced  may  seem  worth  the  space. 

For  centuries  it  had  been  a  foregone  conclusion  that  some 
nation  would  ultimately  try  to  cut  through  the  obstruction 
placed  by  nature  in  the  path  of  progress  at  Panama.  England, 
Spain,  Portugal  and  France,  at  different  periods  seriously  con- 
sidered or  actually  attempted  the  task.  Balboa,  famed  in  his- 
tory as  a  great  explorer  and  adventurer,  touched  at  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama  in  the  year  1501.  He  was  a  Spanish  nobleman, 
who  dissipated  his  fortune,  and  chose  exile  from  his  native 
land  to  escape  imprisonment  for  debt.  In  1510  he  returned  to 
the  Isthmus,  and,  history  says,  married  the  beautiful  daughter  of 
a  savage  Indian  chieftain,  and  thus  became  a  great  man  in  this 
wild  country.  A  year  later  he  made  a  journey  into  the  interior 
from  the  Atlantic  coast,  learning  from  an  Indian  chief  that 
there  was  an  open  sea  farther  toward  the  south.  This  journey 
occupied  him  twenty-three  days,  as  he  traveled  over  what  is 
now  known  as  the  Caledonian  Canal  route.  When  Balboa  re- 
turned to  Colon  his  faithful  Indian  wife  showed  him  a  route 
across  the  Isthmus,  farther  to  the  east,  and  by  this  route,  in 
1513,  he  made  another  trip,  discovering  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
When  Balboa  reached  the  great  ocean  he  drew  his  sword, 
waded  into  the  water  and  claimed  all  it  contained  for  his  coun- 
try and  King. 

Later  he  managed  to  take  a  small  ship  (it  must  have  been 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL      7 

very  small)  across  the  Isthmus,  by  conveying  it  at  one  point 
ten  miles  across  land.  In  1884  Captain  Eads,  the  great  Ameri- 
can engineer,  attempted  to  organize  a  company  to  construct  a 
canal  and  ship-railway,  the  latter  to  take  the  ships  from  the 
water,  transport  theni  across  a  section  of  land  and  then  put  them 
back  into  the  water  again.  He  was  simply  intending  to  attempt 
what  itjs  said  Balboa  accomplished  four  hundred  years  before. 
His  scheme  was  no  doubt  practical. 

In  those  early  days,  when  the  existence  of  the  Straits  of 
Magellan  was  in  doubt,  the  idea  of  a  canal  was  advanced.  The 
first  advocate  of  such  a  scheme  was  a  Spaniard  named  Saave- 
dra,  a  follower  of  Balboa.  He  sent  his  plans  to  Charles  V., 
King  of  Spain,  who  was  favorably  impressed,  but  hesitated  on 
account  of  the  vast  expenditure  of  money  involved.  His  suc- 
cessor, Philip  II.,  was  approached  on  the  matter,  and  he  asked 
the  advice  of  the  priests,  who,  it  is  said,  killed  the  proposition 
by  quoting,  "What  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put 
asunder." 

Antonio  Galvao,  a  Portuguese  navigator  of  note,  tells  in 
his  book  of  his  country  discovering,  about  the  year  1550,  four 
possible  routes  for  a  canal,  but  the  investigators  reported  such 
extreme  difficulties  in  the  way  that  Portugal  went  no  further 
with  the  project. 

After  that  the  matter  rested  in  quiet  until  the  latter  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  owing  to  the  discovery  of  a  passage  at 
the  south  end  of  South  America.  Then  Great  Britain  took  up 
the  idea  that  it  would  be  of  great  value  to  her  if  she  could  con- 
trol a  passage  through  the  Isthmus  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and 
in  1778  she  sent  an  expedition  out  under  Lord  Nelson  to  make 
a  survey.  The  expedition,  however,  was  not  successful  and 
the  matter  was  finally  abandoned. 

Two  concessions  for  building  a  canal  were  given  by  the 
Government  of  Colombia  to  Frenchmen,  one  in  1825  and  the 
other  in  1838,  but  both  failed  for  lack  of  capital.  In  1878  a 
company  was  formed  in  Paris  by  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  the 
famous  French  engineer,  and  his  company  secured  a  concession 
from  the  United  States  of  Colombia  to  construct  a  canal  on  any 
part  of  the  Isthmus.  De  Lesseps  convened  a  congress  of  en- 
gineers, which  decided  in  favor  of  a  sea-level  canal  from  Limon 


8 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Bay  to  Panama  Bay.  It  was  thought  the  undertaking  would 
cost  $240,000,000  and  they  estimated  it  would  require  twelve 
years  to  complete  the  canal.  The  company  bought  control  of 
the  Panama  Railway,  built  by  Americans,  for  $18,000,000. 
This  was  a  very  large  sum  in  those  days.  However,  the  fare 
across  the  Isthmus  was  $25,  and  the  road  had  paid  in  twenty- 
five  years  over  600  per  cent  profit. 

De  Lesseps  had  achieved  great  success  in  the  building  of 
the  Suez  Canal,  and  those  interested  with  him  were  confident 
of  his  ability  to  repeat  his  success  on  the  new  project.  He 
plunged  into  the  work  with  great  enthusiasm,  but  great  as  he 
was  as  an  engineer,  he  lacked  other  qualifications  necessary  to 
combat  successfully  conditions  that  existed  on  the  Isthmus. 
Deep  in  the  plans  of  his  great  enterprise,  he  apparently  paid 
no  attention  to  the  health  of  his  men,  sending  them  to  work  in 
the  miasmatic  swamps,  where  they  died  by  thousands.  No 
effort  was  made  to  improve  the  insanitary  conditions  that  ex- 
isted, and  that  alone  was  cause  sufficient  to  doom  the  great 
undertaking. 

But  there  was  yet  another  reason  for  his  failure.     His  en- 


THE  NATIONAL  THEATER,   CITY  OF  PANAMA. 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL 


gineers  and  staff  lived  in  the  city  of  Panama,  where  they  gave 
more  attention  to  enjoying  themselves  than  they  did  to  building 
the  canal.  But  the 
insanitary  c  o  n  d  i- 
tions  were  not  only 
out  in  the  swamps 
where  the  laborers 
toiled  and  died,  but 
the  gay  city  reeked 
with  almost  equally 
unhealthful  s  u  r- 
roundings.  The  of- 
ficials and  engineers 
failed  to  protect 
themselves  from 
the  germ-carrying 
mosquitoes,  which 
inoculated  them 
with  yellow  fever 
and  many  of  them 
died  as  miserably  as 
the  laborers  in  the 
swamps. 

De  Lesseps  had 
projected  a  sea- 
level  canal  twenty- 
eight  feet  deep, 
with  a  bottom 
width  of  seventy- 
two  feet,  and  in- 
cluded a  tunnel 
through  the  conti- 
nental divide  at 

Culebra.  The  currents,  due  to  the  difference  in  tides  of  the 
two  oceans,  were  to  be  reduced  by  sloping  the  bottom  of  the 
canal  on  the  Pacific  side.  The  Chagres  River  was  to  be  regu- 
lated by  division  channels  and  a  dam  below.  Later,  owing  to 
the  cost,  a  plan  making  locks  necessary  was  substituted. 
Work  was  continued  until  1889,  when  the  company  went  into 


A    CORNER   OF   ONE   OF   THE   ANCON    HOS- 
PITAL    BUILDINGS,     PANAMA 
CANAL   ZONE. 


10 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


bankruptcy,  having  spent  $300,000,000.  It  is  said  that  one- 
third  of  this  went  for  construction,  one-third  to  the  promoters 
in  Paris,  and  one-third  for  the  fast  living  of  the  officials  and 
engineers. 

A  new  French  company  took  over  the  old  company's  rights, 
and  continued  enough  work,  principally  in  Culebra  Cut,  to  keep 
the  franchise.  In  1904  our  Government  bought  the  rights, 
franchise  and  equipment,  which  for  the  most  part  was  simply 
junk,  for  $40,000,000.  Colombia  refused  to  extend  to  our 
country  the  other  necessary  rights  and  privileges,  so  Panama, 
then  a  province  of  Colombia,  seceded  and  became  an  inde- 
pendent republic. 

The  United  States  made  a  treaty  with  the  new  republic 
which  included  the  payment  of  $10,000,000,  and  an  annuity  of 
$250,000,  the  latter  to  begin  nine  years  after  the  treaty  was 
signed.  The  United  States  Government  guaranteed  the  inde- 
pendence of  Panama  and  secured  absolute  control  of  what  is 
now  called  the  Canal  Zone,  a  narrow  ribbon  of  land  ten  miles 


ONE    OF     THE     DREDGES     ABANDONED     BY     THE     FRENCH     CANAL 
COMPANY,  PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE. 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL     n 

in  width  and  forty-five  miles  in  length,  having  an  area  of  448 
square  miles.  The  United  States  has  jurisdiction  over  the 
water  three  miles  from  either  shore  of  the  Canal  Zone.  This 
means  a  perpetual  lease  of  all  governmental  privileges  in  this 
territory.  Its  residents,  however,  do  not  acquire  the  rights  of 
United  States  citizenship. 

For  the  $40,000,000  paid  by  the  United  States  to  the  New 
French  Canal  Company  we  received  the  following : 

Excavation  by  the  French,  useful  to  us,  valued  at  $27,- 
500,000. 

The  Panama  Railway  Company,  valued  at  $7,000,000. 
This  was  a  valuable  acquisition,  as  it  made  transportation  of 
materials  easy.  Forty-three  thousand  acres  of  land  went  with 
the  railway  property,  and  thirty-three  thousand  acres  were  ac- 
quired from  the  New  French  Canal  Company. 

Maps  and  technical  data  were  valued  at  $2,000,000;  build- 
ings, machinery,  etc.,  at  $3,500,000,  the  whole  totaling 
$40,000,000,  a  really  extravagant  price.  However,  when  a  pur- 
chaser is  compelled  to  have  what  another  possesses  just  dealing 
is  hardly  possible.  The  people  of  the  United  States  seemed  to 
demand  that  the  canal  be  built,  and  probably  the  best  price  ob-. 
tainable  was  accepted  in  order  that  the  work  might  proceed. 

In  studying  the  canal,  I  observed  in  many  places  French 
engines,  dredges  and  other  machinery,  lying  along  the  route  of 
the  old  canal,  overgrown  with  tropical  vegetation  and  rusted 
beyond  the  point  of  usefulness.  Possibly  it  might  pay  a  junk 
firm  to  remove  them,  but  about  that  there  is  some  doubt. 

For  the  $10,000,000  paid  to  the  Republic  of  Panama  there 
was  turned  over  to  the  United  States,  in  addition  to  all  public 
lands  in  the  Canal  Zone,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
acres.  Therefore,  we  own  70  per  cent  of  the  land  in  the  Canal 
Zone,  the  remainder  being  owned  by  private  citizens,  mostly 
Panamanians.  We  exercise  governmental  rights  over  all.  In 
point  of  fact,  we  paid  ten  dollars  an  acre  for  land  worth  ten 
cents  an  acre,  but  perhaps  it  was  necessary. 

An  act  passed  by  the  United  States  Congress  placed  the 
building  of  the  canal  in  the  hands  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  direct  functions  to  be  administered  by  a 
commission  of  seven  members,  one  member  to  act  as  chairman. 


VIEWS  IN  THE  PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE. 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL  13 

For  convenience  the  operations  have  been  under  the  direction 
of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Until  January,  1907,  the  work  was 
preparatory — procuring  machinery  and  equipment,  righting  in- 
sanitary conditions,  getting  rid  of  yellow  fever  and  malaria, 
reconstructing  and  double-tracking  the  Panama  Railway,  build- 
ing houses  for  an  army  of  five  thousand  Americans  and  some 
thirty  thousand  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  negro  and  other 
sorts  of  laborers.  Then  a  stable  civil  government  had  to  be 
established  with  courts,  schools,  police  and  fire  departments — in 
short,  transforming  a  jungle  full  of  germ-carrying  mosquitoes 
and  injurious  vegetable  life  into  a  healthful  place  in  which  to 
work.  The  old  French  hospital  at  Ancon  was  rebuilt  and 
equipped  with  everything  of  the  best  known  to  medicine  and 
surgery,  that  the  sick  and  injured  might  be  properly  cared  for. 
In  this  connection  I  would  like  to  say  that  I  believe  the 
money  spent,  though  almost  fabulous  in  amount,  will  still  have 
been  well  invested,  since  here  has  been  demonstrated  that  any 
unhealthful  tropical  country  can  be  completely  freed  from  the 
diseases  common  to  such  a  climate  by  the  proper  enforcement 
of  the  laws  of  sanitation,  and  protection  from  the  ravages 
caused  by  the  germ-carrying  mosquito.  The  object  lesson 
here  given  the  world,  and  especially  other  South  American  re- 
publics, will  ultimately  have  effect  upon  human  progress  in  all 
the  tropics  and  miasmatic  regions,  and  the  benefits  accruing, 
finally,  to  humanity  should  not  be  put  on  a  dollar  basis. 

All  this  preparation  that  I  have  mentioned  took  a  lot  of 
money  and  two  years  and  a  half  of  hard  work.  At  the  same 
time  excavation  was  continued  with  the  French  tools,  exca- 
vators, locomotives,  dump  cars  and  drills.  Then  modern 
American  equipment  superseded  the  inadequate  French  ma- 
chinery, and  since  that  time  the  work  has  gone  on  rapidly.  I 
am  presenting  the  reader  with  a  good  many  pictures  of  the 
canal  in  course  of  construction,  for  the  time  will  presently 
arrive  when  the  locks  will  be  completed  and  the  great  ditch 
filled  with  water;  then  these  pictures  will  become  historically 
valuable  and  of  interest  to  the  next  generation. 

But,  after  all,  we  really  owe  the  building  of  the  Panama 
Canal  to  three  American  heroes.  Not  such  heroes  as  go  to  the 
front  with  flags  flying  and  bands  playing  to  face  the  bullets  of 


i4  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

an  armed  foe,  but  just  three  quiet,  brave  army  doctors,  Reed, 
Lazarre  and  Carol.  These  men  risked  their  lives  when  they 
allowed  themselves  to  be  bitten  by  infected  mosquitoes  in  Cuba, 
and  with  the  observations  obtained  before  they  died,  aided 
science  so  greatly  in  the  fight  on  the  germ-carrying  insects  that 
it  became  possible  to  eliminate  the  dreaded  pests  from  the 
Isthmus  so  completely  that  what  had  been  the  "hell  hole"  of  the 
world  became  a  place  where  white  men  can  live  and  work  in 
security.  I  think  it  a  shame,  however,  that  our  Government 
never  provided  for  the  widows  and  families  of  these  three  doc- 
tors who  died  for  all  of  us. 

The  canal,  when  we  studied  it,  was  partly  completed,  and 
after  viewing  it  from  Gatun  Dam,  Culebra  Cut,  and  Pedro 
Miguel  locks,  and  seeing  the  vast  army  at  work  with  the  great 
dredges  and  gigantic  excavators,  the  immensity  of  the  whole 
project  was  very  nearly  overwhelming.  It  made  me  feel  some- 
what like  the  cowboy  who  started  across  the  Atlantic  on  the 
gigantic  steamer,  Mauretania.  He  was  so  awestruck  by  the 
enormous  bulk  of  the  steamer  and  the  vast  expanse  of  water 
that  he  was  spellbound  until  some  one  inquired  what  he  thought 
of  it,  when  he  solemnly  replied,  "This  is  sure  some  skiff  on 
some  creek !" 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  CANAL  ZONE  AND  ITS  ORGANIZATION. 

THE  United  States  Government  divides  its  administrative 
functions  into  two  distinct  branches,  civil  and  military,  in 
the  Canal  Zone.  These  governmental  departments  dovetail  to- 
gether so  harmoniously  that  it  is  difficult  for  the  ordinary  ob- 
server to  distinguish  where  one  leaves  off  and  the  other  begins. 
Yet,  the  reader  will  have  some  realization  of  the  peculiarity  of 
the  situation  when  he  considers  that  while  the  cities  of  Panama, 
with  30,000  population,  and  Colon,  with  20,000  inhabitants,  are 
within  the  boundary  lines  of  the  Canal  Zone,  over  which  flies 
the  Stars  and  Stripes,  they  belong  to  the  Republic  of  Panama, 
and  Uncle  Sam  has  nothing  to  say — out  loud — about  their  gov- 
ernment. 

The  Governor's  duty  is  to  enforce  the  civic  regulations  and 
laws  of  the  Zone.  The  Canal  Commission,  the  members  of 
which  are  army  and  navy  officers,  except  the  Governor  and 
Secretary  of  the  Canal  Zone,  control  the  construction  of  the 
canal. 

To  Colonel  George  W.  Goethals,  chairman  of  the  Commis- 
sion, the  "man  who  turned  white"  in  his  first  three  years  of 
duty  in  the  tropical  heat,  is  due  in  great  part  the  success  of  the 
construction  and  engineering  work  of  the  canal,  and  it  is  said 
that  if  he  were  not  held  back  by  our  Government,  two  thousand 
miles  away,  in  administering  the  canal  affairs,  work  would  go 
on  faster  and  the  canal  would  reach  completion  sooner  and  cost 
less. 

The  United  States  Government  was,  at  the  time  of  my  visit, 
paying  out  $1,500,000  each  month  to  some  thirty-five  thousand 
canal  employes.  Americans  and  Europeans  were  paid  in  gold 
and  the  Chinese,  East  and  West  Indians  and  negroes  were  paid 
in  Panama  Republic  silver,  worth  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar. 
Forty-two  tons  of  silver  were  paid  out  monthly. 

15 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL 


MR.   BOYCE  AT  CAMP  ELLIOTT,   PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE. 

Canal  Zone  revenues,  collected  by  the  Governor,  have  always 
exceeded  civil  expenditures.  These  revenues  are  obtained  from 
real  estate  taxation  and  rentals,  fines  and  liquor  licenses.  Sa- 
loons are  allowed  at  certain  points  and  the  granting  of  licenses 
is  under  the  control  of  the  Canal  Commission.  The  annual 
license  is  $1,200  gold,  and  there  are  some  thirty-eight  saloons 
within  the  limits  of  the  Zone.  There  is,  of  course,  a  business 
difference  between  the  Canal  Commission  selling  liquors  and 
granting  permits  to  others  to  do  so,  but  the  moral  difference  is 
not  very  plain  to  me.  Result — the  men  get  poorer  liquor  and 
more  of  it. 

The  Zone  is  well  supplied  with  public  schools,  there  being 
twenty-four  in  operation,  and  the  education  of  the  children 
seems  to  be  quite  as  carefully  looked  after  as  in  the  United 
States.  The  white  children  have  American  teachers,  who  are 
paid  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  dollars  a  month,  while  the 
teachers  of  the  colored  children  are  educated  Panamanians  or 
West  Indians.  The  children  are  allowed  to  ride  free  on  the 

2 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL  19 

Panama  Railway  in  going  to  and  from  school,  to  which,  as  an 
instance  of  "governmental  paternalism,"  one  certainly  cannot 
object. 

The  fire  department  of  the  Zone  would  command  the  ad- 
miration of  any  one  conversant  with  such  departments,  as  it  is 
equipped  with  engines  of  the  most  approved  pattern.  The 
horses  are  fine  specimens  brought  from  the  States  and  South 
America,  while  the  firemen  are  all  men  who  were  trained  in  the 
United  States. 

There  are  two  hundred  policemen  in  the  Zone,  one  hundred 
of  whom  are  white.  These  men  are  either  ex-policemen  from 
the  United  States  or  former  sergeants  of  the  United  States 
army.  The  black  policemen  are  recruited  from  the  biggest  and 
most  intelligent  of  the  Jamaicans.  There  is  a  large  peniten- 
tiary at  Culebra,  and  each  police  precinct  has  its  jail.  Convicts 


WORKINGMEN'S  QUARTERS  AT  CRISTOBAL,  PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE. 


20 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


are  condemned  to  hard  labor  and  are  put  to  work  constructing 
highways,  a  distinct  example  of  progressive  ideas. 

I  visited  the  United  States  marines  at  Bas  Obispo  (Low 
Bishop),  where  four  hundred  officers  and  men  are  stationed. 
The  marines  are  the  real  guardians  of  Uncle  Sam's  property  on 
the  Isthmus,  being  ready  to  start  at  a  moment's  notice  for  any 
place  in  Central  America,  if  a  revolution  should  break  out  and 
they  should  be  needed  to  protect  our  countrymen  or  their  prop- 
erty. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  operates  six  club- 
houses in  the  Zone,  the  buildings  occupied  having  been  erected 
and  equipped  by  the  Canal  Commission.  It  costs  one  dollar  a 
month  to  belong  to  the  association,  and  as  the  clubrooms  have 
gymnasiums,  ice  cream  parlors,  billiard  rooms,  bowling  alleys, 
and  good  libraries,  they  are  real  homes  to  the  white  canal  work- 
ers in  their  hours  of  recreation,  a  decided  improvement  over 
the  old  French  order  of  things  in  this  region. 

The  houses  of  the  officials  are  built  of  wood,  the  porches 


LABORERS  AT  LUNCH     PANAMA  CANAL. 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL 


21 


PEDRO   MIGUEL  TWIN   LOCKS,   PANAMA   CANAL,  LOOKING  NORTH. 

and  windows  being  equipped  with  wire  screens  to  keep  out  the 
insects.  The  houses  are  commodious,  well  furnished,  and  are 
made  quite  beautiful  by  the  tropical  flowers  which  surround 
them.  One  thing,  however,  is  lacking  to  complete  the  picture 
of  real  homelike  places.  I  refer  to  the  absence  of  vegetable 
gardens. 

To  Colonel  W.  C.  Gorgas  and  his  assistants  credit  should  be 
given  for  making  it  possible  for  men  to  live  and  work  on  the 
Isthmus  without  danger  of  yellow  fever 'and  other  epidemics 
peculiar  to  a  tropical  climate.  In  the  extermination  of  the 
mosquito  nearly  3,000,000  gallons  of  petroleum  oil  were  poured 
on  the  streets  of  the  cities  and  towns,  and  into  the  lagoons  and 
low  places  of  the  Zone,  during  the  first  year,  and  this  plan  has 
been  continued  ever  since.  In  addition,  the  cities  and  towns 
were  fumigated,  tons  upon  tons  of  paper  were  used  to  plaster 
up  the  holes  in  the  walls  of  houses,  and  every  source  of  infec- 


22  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

tion  was  destroyed.  The  natives  of  the  Isthmus  stood  aghast 
at  the  "scouring  and  scrubbing"  Uncle  Sam's  men  gave  the 
region,  but  as  the  United  States  was  paying  the  bills  they  were 
content  to  keep  their  hands  off  and  await  the  outcome. 

The  United  States  also  paid  for  the  installation  of  modern 
sewerage  systems  in  the  cities  of  Panama  and  Colon,  and  for 
the  paving  of  their  streets.  Large,  splendidly  equipped  hos- 
pitals were  built  at  Ancon  and  Colon,  and  smaller  hospitals  at 
all  settlements  along  the  route  of  the  canal.  The  lepers  and 
insane  had  been  housed  at  Miraflores,  a  station  on  the  Panama 
Railway  six  miles  from  Panama  City.  Colonel  Gorgas  built 
new  quarters  for  the  insane  at  Ancon,  and  the  lepers  are  now 
isolated  in  comfortable  quarters  up  the  coast.  You  see  what 
admirable  things  may  be  done  by  a  strong  and  honest  man, 
when  given  power  and  backed  up  by  a  great  nation. 

The  labor  question  in  the  Zone  is  one  of  the  questions  of 
the  greatest  importance  and  requires  most  skilful  and  arbitrary 
handling,  as  the  laborers  are  a  mixed  crowd  of  many  nationali- 
ties. While  in  Uganda,  Africa,  with  my  expedition,  I  was  the 
guest  of  Archbishop  Walker  of  the  Church  of  England  Mis- 
sion, and  I  noticed  that  whenever  a  converted  negro  met  a 
missionary  on  the  road,  or  appeared  before  him  at  his  resi- 
dence, he  always  dropped  on  his  knees.  About  the  same 
relationship  is  sustained  in  the  Canal  Zone  between  the  Govern- 
ment officials  and  the  poor  men  who  are  really  doing  the  work. 
The  employes  on  the  canal  are  not  permitted  to  accept  other 
employment,  and  if  any  one  should  attempt  to  hire  any  man 
working,  or  who  wants  to  work,  on  the  canal,  whether  the  Canal 
Commission  has  employed  him  or  not,  that  person  is  subject  to 
fine  and  imprisonment. 

In  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union  it  is  unlawful  for  any 
manufacturer,  mine  owner,  or  employer  of  labor,  to  operate 
what  is  known  as  a  "company  store"  to  which  their  employes 
are  given  orders  for  goods,  provided  they  have  wages  due 
them.  Not  so  when  your  Uncle  Samuel  goes  into  business. 
Our  Government  owns  all  the  stock  in  the  Panama  Railway, 
and  the  railway  company  operates  a  commissary  department  or 
"company  store,"  and  every  employe  on  the  canal  and  railway 
is  given  a  "book,"  or  credit  for  a  certain  amount  on  the  com- 


ABOVE,    SPILLWAY   AND    FOUNDATION    OF   GATUN    LOCKS.      LOWER 
PICTURE,    LOOKING    NORTH    IN    GATUN    LOCKS. 


24  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

missary  department,  where  they  spend  their  wages  for  the 
necessities  of  life. 

In  1910  the  "company  store"  cleared  over  $200,000.  How 
is  that  for  protecting  the  employes  who  are  digging  the  big 
ditch?  The  Panama  Railway  cleared  over  $2,000,000  in  the 
same  year.  Wouldn't  you  like  to  be  a  stockholder  ?  The  Pan- 
ama Railway  is  the  only  railroad  owned  by  the  United  States, 
and  it  is  a  monopoly,  pure  and  simple,  charging  five  cents  a 
mile  for  passengers,  and  two  cents  a  pound  for  every  pound  of 
baggage,  no  baggage  free.  It  is  a  fortunate  thing  that  the  road 
is  only  forty-eight  miles  long.  The  policy  applied  on  the  Pan- 
ama Railway  will  not  make  many  converts  to  Government 
ownership  of  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  among  those 
who  are  conversant  with  the  operation  of  this  monopoly,  for  if 
the  United  States  were  to  take  over  the  roads  at  home  and 
pursue  the  same  course  employed  in  the  administration  of  the 
Panama  Railway,  it  would  bankrupt  the  whole  country  to  pay 
the  rates  charged  for  transportation. 

All  the  hotels  and  boarding-houses  in  the  Canal  Zone  are 
under  the  commissary  department  of  the  railroad,  which  means 
the  United  States  Government.  Everything  is  shipped  in  and 
all  food  is  from  cold  storage.  You  eat  frozen  fish  from  the 
States,  and  yet  the  best  fish  in  the  world  are  taken  right  here 
in  Panama  Bay.  In  fact  "Panama"  is  an  Indian  word  meaning 
"many  fish."  The  tropical  fruit  of  Panama  cannot  be  ex- 
celled, yet  all  fruit  is  shipped  in  from  the  United  States. 
Green  vegetables  grow  here  as  it  were  over  night,  yet  every: 
thing  you  get  is  canned.  This  is  the  way  a  Government  does 
business,  at  least  in  this  case. 

However,  it  seems  to  be  a  natural  principle  that  good  and 
evil  shall  mingle  in  all  things  earthly,  and  notwithstanding  the 
disadvantages,  the  Tivoli  Hotel,  owned  and  operated  by  Uncle 
Sam,  is  better  than  many  hotels  in  the  United  States,  being 
clean,  sanitary  and  up-to-date.  The  manager  and  assistants  are 
from  New  York,  Brooklyn  and  Dayton,  Ohio ;  the  head  waiter 
from  Nairobi,  British  East  Africa ;  the  barber,  a  German  from 
the  Philippine  Islands ;  the  waiters,  negroes  from  Jamaica ;  the 
guests,  all  nationalities  from  everywhere. 

It  will  not  be  difficult  to  fortify  the  canal  on  either  the  At- 


UPPER    PICTURE,    CULEBRA    CUT,    LOOKING    NORTH.       LOWER    PIC- 
TURE, GATUN  UPPER  LOCKS,  LOOKING  SOUTH. 


26  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

lantic  or  Pacific  shores.  The  channel  is  very  narrow  at  Colon, 
so  that  seacoast  batteries  would  have  no  difficulty  in  sinking 
battleships  that  might  get  by  the  submarine  mines.  On  the 
Pacific  a  breakwater  will  run  to  Naos  Island,  five  miles  from 
the  shore ;  adjoining  are  Perico  and  Flamenco  Islands,  and  on 
Flamenco  it  is  proposed  to  erect  fortifications,  and  being  high, 
it  will  easily  command  the  entrance  to  the  canal.  The  guns 
proposed  to  be  used  in  the  fortifications  are  ten  1 4-inch  rifles, 
twelve  6-inch  rifles,  and  twenty-eight  1 2-inch  mortars. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  United  States  should 
have  a  naval  base  in  the  Canal  Zone.  A  station  here  would  be 
invaluable,  especially  for  coal.  The  only  navy  yards  and  docks 
required  within  one  thousand  miles  of  the  Zone  should  be  built 
at  Panama.  With  the  immense  machine  shops  left  over  from 
the  canal  work,  when  it  is  finished,  we  would  need  little  more 
for  a  complete  plant. 

My  personal  opinion,  is,  however,  that  while  it  will  do  no 
harm  to  fortify  the  canal,  it  is  a  needless  expense.  The  United 
States  needs  the  money  too  much  at  home  for  internal  improve- 
ments and  waterways.  Besides,  the  large  expenditure  neces- 
sary to  fortify  the  canal  would  build,  equip  and  maintain  a  fleet 
of  airships  and  aerial  planes  that  could  destroy  every  navy  and 
fort  in  the  world.  So  I  am  inclined  to  propound  the  old  query, 
"What  is  the  use?" 

I  have  observed  several  times  in  my  life  that  when  a  new 
doctor  supplants  another  in  a  case,  the  new  doctor  is  very  care- 
ful not  to  commit  a  breach  of  professional  ethics,  but  is  just  as 
careful  not  to  agree  with  much  that  the  previous  attendant 
said.  Being  a  new  "doctor"  on  the  Panama  Canal  case,  I  dis- 
like to  be  discourteous  to  any  writer  preceding  me,  but  none 
the  less  I  have  several  distinctly  individual  things  to  say.  As 
an  analyst  seeking  the  truth,  I  am  compelled  to  report  my  honest 
conclusions. 

I  did  not  go  over  the  line  of  the  canal  in  a  private  car, 
owned  by  the  Canal  Commission  and  used  to  show  newspaper 
men  around,  but  followed  the  big  ditch  from  point  to  point  in 
most  part  on  foot ;  therefore,  what  I  have  to  report  is  matter 
of  personal  knowledge. 

On  June  29,  1906,  the  construction  of  an  eighty-five- foot 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL 


27 


above-sea-level  lock  type  of  canal  was  authorized  by  Congress. 
The  canal,  when  completed,  will  be  fifty  miles  long,  from  ocean 
to  ocean.  To  aid  the  reader  in  following  my  description  of  the 
construction  of  the  canal  the  work  may  be  divided  into  three 
classes : 

First,  wet  excavation.  That  is  to  say,  excavation  performed 
by  dredges,  especially  from  deep  water  in  the  ocean  to  dry  canal. 
Second,  dry  excavation.  This  includes  all  material,  rock,  earth 
and  lava  ash,  removed  by  steam  shovels  and  other  power  ex- 


BANANA   TRAFFIC    IN    THE   REPUBLIC    OF    PANAMA. 


28  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

cavators,  or  by  pick  and  shovel,  there  being  very  little  done  by 
pick  and  shovel.  Third,  a  class  of  work  that  covers  construc- 
tion of  locks,  dams  and  spillways.  The  dams  make  the  lakes, 
the  locks  enable  the  ships  to  pass  from  sea  level  to  lake  level, 
and  vice  versa,  and  the  spillways  take  care  of  the  overflow. 

The  construction  work  has  been  divided  into  three  divi- 
sions. First,  the  Atlantic  division,  extending  from  deep  water 
to  Gatun  Lake,  including  the  Gatun  locks  and  dam.  Second, 
the  central  division,  extending  from  Gatun  to  Pedro  Miguel. 
Third;  the  Pacific  division  extending  from  Pedro  Miguel  to 
deep  water  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  Atlantic  entrance  of  the  canal  is  in  Limon  Bay,  and 
two  large  breakwaters  are  being  constructed  there.  The  en- 
trance channel  is  at  sea  level.  It  is  seven  miles  long,  five  hun- 
dred feet  wide  and  continues  to  the  Gatun  locks.  At  Gatun 
the  eighty-five-foot  level  is  obtained  by  a  great  dam.  The  lake 
is  confined  on  the  Pacific  side  by  a  smaller  dam  between  the 
hills  of  Pedro  Miguel,  thirty-two  miles  away.  These  dams 
will  make  the  lake  eighty-five  feet  above  sea  level,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  square  miles  in  area.  This  lake  does  not 
exist  at  present  and  will  not  until  the  canal  is  finished,  and  the 
Gatun  Dam  begins  to  back  up  the  Chagres  River.  It  will  be  a 
fresh-water  lake,  and  its  level  will  be  maintained  at  a  constant 
height  by  the  Chagres  and  Trinidad  Rivers  which  flow  into  it. 
A  big  concrete-walled  spillway  takes  care  of  the  overflow. 

Ships  will  pass  from  sea  level  to  lake  level,  and  vice  versa, 
by  a  series  of  three  adjoining  locks,  each  with  lifts  varying 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet,  depending  on  the  height  of  the 
water  in  the  lake  and  the  state  of  the  tide. 

The  Gatun  locks  are  in  duplicate.  They  are  in  pairs,  and 
have  a  width  of  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  and  a  usable  length 
of  one  thousand  feet.  Each  lock  consists  of  a  chamber  with 
walls  and  bottom  of  concrete,  and  water-tight  gates  at  the  end. 
The  level  of  the  water  in  the  locks  will  be  regulated  by  open- 
ings in  the  bottom  and  by  operation  of  valves  in  the  side  and 
center  walls,  which  allows  water  to  flow  into  and  out  of  the 
locks  by  gravity.  To  make  them  safe,  five  devices  will  be  used. 
In  all  cases  and  at  all  times  there  will  be  not  less  than  two 
barriers  separating  a  high  level  from  the  level  below. 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL  29 

There  are  two  gates  at  the  upper  and  two  gates  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  upper  lock.  These  double  gates  will  be  operated  at 
the  same  time.  Another  safety  device  will  be  an  enormous 
chain  stretched  across  the  lock  near  the  surface  of  the  water 
and  passing  around  capstans  on  the  walls.  This  will  be  so  de- 
signed that  by  the  application  of  frictional  resistance  it  will 
arrest  a  ten-thousand-ton  ship  moving  at  a  speed  of  three 
miles  an  hour. 

The  results  of  mishaps  to  the  gates  and  locks  are  guarded 
against  by  movable  dams  above  the  upper  gates.  Each  dam 
consists  of  a  swing  drawbridge  from  which  wicket  girders  can 
be  lowered  one  at  a  time,  gradually  lessening  the  area  of  the 
waterway,  and  is  so  designed  that  the  flow  of  water  through 
the  locks  with  the  gates  open  could  be  checked  in  less  than  an 
hour.  These  safety  devices — twin  locks,  duplicate  gates,  cable 
protection  and  emergency  dams — have  all  been  successfully 
tried  on  different  locks  in  the  United  States  and  abroad. 

When  vessels  are  passing  through  the  locks  under  their  own 
steam  it  is  possible  that  signals  may  be  misunderstood,  and 
sometimes  serious  mishaps  occur.  At  Gatun  this  possibility 
will  be  taken  care  of  by  electric  locomotives  running  on  the 
walls  at  the  sides  of  the  locks,  which,  under  proper  control, 
will  tow  ships  through  the  locks,  one  locomotive  on  each  side 
forward  and  astern.  Ships  thus  towed  will  not  be  allowed  to 
move  their  propellers. 

The  gates  of  the  locks  consist  of  two  leaves,  and  are  big  steel 
structures,  each  leaf  being  seven  feet  thick  and  sixty-five  feet 
long.  Intermediate  gates  will  be  used  to  save  water  in  locking 
small  ships  through,  these  gates  being  so  arranged  as  to  divide 
the  locks  into  chambers  five  hundred  and  fifty  feet  and  three 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  long.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of  ships  on 
the  high  seas  are  less  than  six  hundred  feet  in  length. 

I  was  climbing  a  ladder  from  the  bottom  of  the  upper  lock 
at  Gatun  to  the  wall  above,  when  the  chain  of  a  bucket  filled 
with  rock  broke  and  killed  a  laborer  five  feet  from  me. 

Although  the  medical  and  sanitary  force  has  done  so  much 
to  decrease  deaths  and  sickness  on  the  Isthmus,  fatalities  from 
accidents  are  large,  explosions  of  dynamite  killing  and  injuring 
large  numbers,  in  addition  to  the  other  accidents.  In  Bas 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


EFFECTS  OF   AN    EARTHQUAKE    IN    CENTRAL   AMERICA,    SHOWING 

WHAT  MAY  SOME  DAY  HAPPEN  TO  THE  PANAMA 

CANAL  LOCKS. 

Obispo  Cut  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  of  dynamite  ex- 
ploded, killing  thirty-two  men.  In  another  accident,  a  Greek 
who  had  his  arm  torn  completely  off,  climbed  the  hill  from  the 
cut  and  was  halfway  to  the  Bas  Obispo  hospital  before  he 
fainted.  A  negro  who  had  his  trousers  blown  off  fainted  and 
was  carried  to  the  hospital  on  a  stretcher.  When  examined  by 
the  surgeons  it  was  found  that  the  only  injury  he  had  received 
was  a  slight  sprain  in  both  knees.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to 
secure  information  in  regard  to  accidents  and  fatalities,  as  the 
work  is  divided  into  so  many  sections,  and  all  news  is. censored, 
but  conservative  estimates  placed  the  number  of  lives  lost,  up  to 
the  date  of  my  visit,  at  two  thousand. 

Two  million  three  hundred  thousand  yards  of  concrete  will 
have  been  placed  in  Gatun  locks  and  spillway  when  completed. 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL 


There  have  been  installed  two  six-thousand-horsepower  hydro- 
electric power  plants  in  the  Canal  Zone.  The  amount  of  water 
possible  to  use  in  developing  electricity  will  have  to  be  deter- 
mined by  actual  practice  later. 

The  water  supplied  by  the  rivers  is  calculated  as  being  ade- 
quate for  all  purposes.  Nine  months  of  the  year  the  rainfall 
is  ample ;  the  other  three  months  of  the  year  there  is  no  rain, 
therefore,  enough  water  must  be  stored  each  rainy  season  to 
carry  over  the  dry  season.  The  big  storage  capacity  of  Gatun 
Lake,  and  additional  storage  up  the  Chagres  River,  will  take 
care  of  this.  It  is  intended  to  allow  the  water  in  the  lake  to 
rise  to  X  84  at  the  end  of  each  rainy  season,  and  it  can  lower 
five  and  one-third 
feet  from  this  eleva- 
tion without  redu- 
cing the  depths 
through  Culebra  Cut 
too  low.  Gatun 
Lake  alone  will  store 
five  feet  of  water  in 
the  rainy  season  that 
can  be  used  in  the 
dry  season. 

The  tonnage  pass- 
ing through  the  Suez 
Canal  is  about  twen- 
ty-one million  gross 
tons  per  year; 
through  the  Ameri- 
can Sault  Ste.  Marie 
(Soo)  forty  million 
gross  tons.  It  is 
calculated  that  the 
Panama  Canal  will 
have  enough  water 
supply  for  as  many 
lockages  per  day  as  OLD  DREDGES  ABANDONED  BY  THE  FRENCH 
can  be  passed  CANAL  COMPANY,  PANAMA 

through    the    canal,  CANAL  ZONE. 


32  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

which  is  estimated  to  be  forty-eight  for  the  twin  locks.  This 
would  amount  to  eighty-one  million  gross  tons  per  annum. 
The  Panama  Canal  cannot  hope  to  pass  more  than  eight  million 
tons  annually  for  many  years.  When  I  passed  through  the 
Suez  Canal,  going  to  and  coming  from  Africa,  we  were  held  up 
eight  hours  each  time,  waiting  for  ships  to  pass  through.  The 
Suez  Canal  is  eighty-six  miles  long. 

Steaming  through  Gatun  Lake  to  Pedro  Miguel,. a  distance 
of  thirty-two  miles,  ships  will  go  through  a  channel  three  hun- 
dred to  one  thousand  feet  in  width  and  not  less  than  forty-five 
feet  in  depth.  Throughout  the  first  eight  miles  no  digging  is 
necessary,  the  ground  being  so  low  it  is  only  necessary  to  clear 
away  trees  and  underbrush  to  make  the  lake.  At  Bohio  a  few 
high  points  were  being  leveled  off.  A  channel  one  thousand 
feet  in  width  continues  for  fifteen  miles  from  Gatun  and  ships 
can  go  at  full  speed.  From  Tabernilla  the  canal  continues 
eight  hundred  feet  wide  for  four  miles ;  then  to  Bas  Obispo,  five 
hundred  feet  wide  for  about  four  miles. 

Many  millions  of  cubic  yards  of  rock  and  earth  were  ex- 
cavated by  the  French  between  Tabernilla  and  Bas  Obispo, 
but  the  excavation  has  since  filled  up.  Between  these  two  places 
the  Chagres  River  in  its  course  crosses  the  canal  at  least  fifteen 
times.  The  engineers  have  built  division  channels  to  take  care 
of  this.  At  Bas  Obispo  the  Chagres  River  turns  to  the  north- 
east and  the  canal  enters  the  nine-mile  cut  through  the  Cordil- 
leras (meaning  mountains)  where  the  greatest  amount  of 
excavation  has  been  and  is  being  done.  This  is  the  famous. 
Culebra  Cut.  The  French  began  it,  and  when  the  United 
States  bought  out  the  New  French  Company  the  summit  near 
Gold  Hill  was  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  feet  above  sea 
level,  having  been  reduced  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  by  them, 
making  it  necessary  to  cut  an  additional  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  feet  to  reach  the  proper  level. 

The  formation  of  the  hills  and  land  about  is  in  part  lava 
ash,  and  there  are  many  landslides  which  seriously  retard  the 
work  and,  in  my  opinion,  there  will  always  be  trouble  at  this 
point.  The  best  known  slide  in  the  cut  is  the  Cucaracha,  just 
south  of  Gold  Hill,  and  it  has  always  given  trouble. 

There  are  five  operations  necessary  in  excavating.     These 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL  33 

are  drilling,  blasting,  loading,  transporting  and  dumping.  If  all 
of  this  had  to  be  done  by  hand  power  the  Panama  Canal  could 
not  be  finished  in  a  hundred  years.  But  with  the  best  of 
modern  steam  and  electrical  machinery,  tripod  drills,  steam 
shovels,  hundreds  of  miles  of  track  in  the  cuts,  and  quick  act- 
ing, self-dumping  cars,  the  work  of  excavation  forges  rapidly 
ahead.  Besides  the  above-mentioned  appliances  over  1,000,000 
pounds  of  dynamite  are  used  each  month.  In  Culebra  Cut 
alone  there  are  over  fifty  miles  of  railway  track,  and  about  two 
hundred  trains  are  loaded  and  dumped  each  day. 

Leaving  Culebra  Cut,  we  reached  the  end  of  Gatun  Lake  at 
the  Pedro  Miguel  locks,  which  will  consist  of  a  single  set  of 
locks,  similar  in  construction  to  the  Gatun  locks.  The  dams 
connecting  the  locks  with  the  near-by  hills  on  each  side  are 
small.  Next  we  came  to  Miraflores  Lake,  less  than  two  square 
miles  in  area,  fed  by  water  entering  with  ships  from  the  Pedro 
Miguel  locks,  and  by  water  from  the  Rio  Grande  and  Cameron 
Rivers,  which  flow  into  it.  A  spillway  is  located  to  the  east  to 
take  care  of  the  overflow. 

There  are  two  pairs  of  locks  with  lifts  of  twenty-seven  and 
one-half  feet  at  Miraflores,  and  from  this  point  there  is  a  sea- 
level  channel  eight  miles  in  length  to  Balboa,  the  Pacific  end  of 
the  canal.  There  is  a  fine  harbor  a£  Balboa,  and  they  have  to- 
day one  of  the  finest  docks  in  the  world,  owned  by  the  United 
States.  It  is  estimated  that  a  ship  can  go  through  the  canal, 
when  finished,  in  twelve  hours. 

There  are  many  landslides  into  the  canal  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  cubic  yards  of  rock  mixed  with  lava  ash.  The 
constructors  and  engineers  argue  that  if  this  is  removed  each 
time,  eventually  these  slides  will  become  solid  and  remain  so. 
They  do  not  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  the  ground, 
in  some  places  two  and  one-half  miles  from  the  canal,  is  cracked 
to  a  depth  of  forty  feet,  and  slowly  but  surely  all  between  is 
creeping  toward  the  channel  and  sliding  into  it.  I  believe  it 
will  cost  nearly  twice  $400,000,000  before  the  Panama  Canal  is 
practical  and  safe. 

I  would  not  be  candid  if  I  did  not  assert  my  belief  that  the 
canal  itself  is  costing  twenty-five  per  cent  more  than  it  would 
had  it  been  let  to  private  contractors — under  Government  in- 
3 


34  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

spection,  which  would  insure  the  quality  of  the  work  and  give 
the  United  States  army  engineers  the  practical  experience  they 
need.  The  canal  work  is  being  run  on  a  war  basis,  by  the 
War  Department,  in  times  of  peace. 

I  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  in  the  Panama  Canal  Zone,  and 
talked  with  many  people,  some  of  whom  worked  on  the  canal 
when  the  French  started  and  abandoned  it,  others  who  had  been 
on  the  work  ever  since  the  United  States  took  up  the  task  for 
the  benefit  of  the  world.  Through  using  my  own  eyes,  ears,  ex- 
perience and  judgment,  I  am  fully  satisfied  that  the  canal  will 
be  finished  some  day,  but  never  operated  except  at  a  big  loss  on 
the  investment.  Over  $1,000,000,000  will  have  been  invested 
by  the  United  States  and  France.  The  average  time  of  this 
investment  will  be  twenty  years  before  the  canal  is  really  in 
constant  use.  The  interest  on  $i,ooo,ooo,dOo  for  twenty  years 
at  5  per  cent  equals  another  billion,  and,  as  railroad  corpora- 
tions would  figure,  the  investment  would  be  equal  to  $2,000,- 
000,000.  The  annual  interest  on  $2,000,000,000  at  5  per  cent 
will  be  $100,000,000.  Now,  unless  the  canal  earns  $100,000,000 
a  year,  plus  the  cost  of  operation,  dredging,  repairs  and  depre- 
ciation of  railroad,  locks,  etc.,  it  will  be  operated  at  a  loss.  The 
Suez  Canal  passes  twenty-one  million  tons  a  year,  and  we  can- 
not expect  that  the  Panama  Canal  will  equal  that  for  years 
to  come.  At  one  dollar  per  ton,  all  that  the  traffic  will  stand, 
the  amount  received  will  hardly  pay  operating  expenses. 

The  canal,  after  all,  is  only  a  transportation  company  for 
boats.     It  is  fifty  miles  long  and  will  have  cost  $40,000,000  per. 
mile  when  finished.     This  is  the  way  any  good  business  man 
or  corporation  would  figure  it. 

The  theory  on  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  con- 
sented to  build  this  canal  was  to  enable  our  navy  to  move 
quickly  from  one  side  of  the  United  States  to  the  other  coast. 

Navies  are  built  to  protect  a  country's  merchant  ships.  On 
this  theory,  one  second-class  cruiser  is  really  all  the  navy  the 
United  States  needs,  since  we  have  almost  no  ships  flying  the 
American  flag.  The  United  States  Congress  sho.uld  either 
make  it  possible  to  float  an  American  flag  on  the  water,  or 
cease  spending  our  money  for  warships,  or  by  going  into  the 
ship  transportation  business  in  the  shape  of  a  canal  under  the 


36  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

tropical  sun  thousands  of  miles  from  home,  when  we  have  no 
merchant  marine  of  our  own.  The  reader  will  observe  that  I 
am  unequivocally  for  a  United  States  merchant  marine  as  justi- 
fication for  our  fabulous  expenditure  in  building  the  canal  and 
a  big  navy. 

I  am  aware  that  my  figures  relative  to  the  United  States 
billion-dollar  canal  will  be  questioned.  The  added  billion  dol- 
lars of  interest  charges  for  the  time  the  money  shall  have  been 
invested,  earning  nothing,  is  easy  to  calculate.  But  I  will  prove 
that  the  United  States  must  expend  nearly  $300,000,000  more 
than  the  $400,000,000  now  estimated,  which,  added  to  the 
$340,000,000  spent  by  the  French,  brings  the  original  cost  of 
the  canal,  to  say  nothing  of  interest  charges,  above  $1,000,- 
000,000. 

Now  for  the  proof  as  to  the  $300,000,000  over  the  estimates. 
My  basic  postulate  is  the  character  and  nature  of  the  materials 
from  which  the  whole  country  of  the  Canal  Zone  is  made — 
lava  ash.  The  United  States  engineers  never  handled  it  before, 
the  French  gave  it  up. 

In  Venezuela  there  is  a  lake  of  pure  asphalt,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  acres  in  extent,  which  caused  a  lot  of  trou- 
ble. A  smart  Yankee  bought  five  acres  of  this  lake  from  the 
English  company  which  owned  it,  and  as  fast  as  he  took  out 
the  asphalt  from  his  five  acres,  it  kept  filling  up  from  the  bal- 
ance of  the  lake.  Thus  he  could  have  taken  out  all  the  asphalt 
from  one  place.  While  this  is  not  exactly  the  case  with  lava 
ash,  it  is  almost  true.  Did  you  ever  see  snow  slide  off  of  a 
slate  roof?  Well,  that  is  the  way  lava  ash  and  the  big  stones 
mixed  with  it  come  sliding  down  into  the  canal. 

Where  do  I  get  the  $300,000,000  above  the  present  esti- 
mate ?  The  first  Government  estimate  was  less  than  $200,000,- 
ooo.  It  is  now  $400,000,000.  There  are  twenty  miles  of  cuts 
that  average  one  hundred  feet  above  the  bottom  level  of  the 
canal  within  a  distance  that  exerts  a  pressure  on  the  material 
through  which  the  walls  of  the  canal  are  excavated.  In  order 
to  reduce  the  pressure  so  water  will  hold  the  soil  back,  experi- 
ence has  shown  that  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  grade  of  not  over 
one  foot  to  seven  slope.  This,  applied  to  the  one-hundred-foot 
average  height,  gives  an  additional  excavation  of  seven  million 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL  37 

cubic  yards  per  mile  on  each  side  of  the  canal  for  twenty  miles, 
or  forty  miles  altogether.  Forty  multiplied  by  seven  million 
equals  two  hundred  and  eighty  million  yards  that  the  United 
States  engineers  obviously  never  figured  on  removing.  Up  to 
the  present  time  it  has  cost  about  one  dollar  a  cubic  yard  for  all 
material  removed.  We  are  better  equipped  now  than  when  we 
began,  but  most  of  this  work  will  be  done  after  the  water  is  in 
the  canal,  and  will  cost  not  less  than  one  dollar  a  cubic  yard. 
There  is  $280,000,000  of  the  $300,000,000  more  needed.  I 
could  easily  figure  up  an  additional  expenditure  of  $20,000,000 
more  for  concrete  bottoms,  walls,  and  other  obvious  needs. 
But  that  would  avail  nothing.  We  must  go  through  with  the 
task  whatever  the  cost.  The  reputation  of  the  United  States 
is  at  stake.  We  are  big  enough  and  strong  enough  and  rich 
enough,  and  too  proud  to  back  out  as  the  French  corporation 
did  when  they  discovered  their  mistake.  But  no  corporation 
would,  in  my  opinion,  ever  have  constructed  the  canal,  because 
it  will  never  pay,  and  nothing  but  Government  capital  could 
be  used  without  profit.  Again,  we  must  not  forget  that  the 
Panama  Canal  is  the  southern  boundary  line  of  the  United 
States. 

True,  we  are  shortening  distance  and  thereby  saving  time 
and  consequently  lengthening  human  lives.  We  must  take  our 
reward  and  satisfaction  in  that.  And  after  all,  there  are  nobler 
things  both  for  statesmanship  and  the  individual  to  consider 
than  simply  saving  money.  The  final,  ultimate  effect  on  hu- 
manity of  the  expenditure  of  money  by  Governments  must,  of 
course,  be  considered,  rather  than  whether  or  not  the  expendi- 
ture will  make  returns  in  cash,  for  the  civilizing  and  broaden- 
ing of  the  minds  of  men  is,  in  the  final  analysis,  the  true  profit. 

As  a  final  observation  relative  to  the  canal  itself,  I  have 
something  to  suggest.  A  query  naturally  arises  in  the  mind  as 
to  what  disposition,  after  the  canal  is  completed,  is  to  be  made 
of  the  vast  equipment  of  machinery  being  used  in  this  work. 
The  quantity  and  varied  character  of  the  excavating  appliances 
to  be  finally  thrown  out  of  use  is  enormous.  Why  not  employ 
this  machinery  in  the  reclamation  of  the  swamp  lands  of  the 
United  States?  In  the  Union,  according  to  Government  sta- 
tistics, there  are  approximately  80,000,000  acres  of  overflow 


*  • 


!• -*T 


Ll 


SCENES  IN   CITY  OF  PANAMA. 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  AND  CANAL  39 

lands  not  habitable  or  tillable  through  lack  of  drainage.  The 
reclamation  of  this  tremendous  area  of  soil,  it  is  estimated, 
would  ultimately  add  $4,000,000,000  to  the  land  values  of  the 
United  States,  besides  providing  homes  for  innumerable  people. 
It  could  also  be  used  to  great  advantage  in  building  levees  on 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  other  rivers  to  protect 
our  own  people  at  home. 

The  machinery  being  employed  in  the  construction  of  the 
canal  belongs  to  the  United  States  Government,  which  means 
that  it  belongs  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Then  why 
could  not  much  of  the  canal  excavating  machinery  finally  be 
floated  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River,  where  great 
areas  of  swamp  lands  lie,  and  under  a  cooperative  arrangement 
between  the  Federal  Government  and  the  States,  be  put  to  use 
in  the  interest  of  the  American  people  who  bought  and  owned 
this  unrivaled  supply  of  excavating  tools?  Leaving  this  sug- 
gestion for  the  reader  to  reflect  upon,  we  will  next  turn  to  con- 
sideration of  the  Panama  Republic  itself. 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA 

Area  in  square  miles  35,570,  or  about  two-thirds  of  the  area  of 
England — Atlantic  coast  line  478  miles;  Pacific  coast  line 
767  miles;  width  of  country  varies  from  35  to  no  miles — 
Mixed  population  of  340,000 — Capital,  Panama  City. 


F 


CHAPTER  III. 
A  GLANCE  AT  THE  BABY  REPUBLIC. 

OR  certain  inherent  reasons  the  Panama  Republic  looms 
large  in  the  world's  eye.  Indeed,  for  four  hundred  years 
it  has  been  a  focal  point  of  interest.  Its  history  is  not  unlike  a 
story  from  a  dream  book.  The  old  city  of  Panama  was,  at  one 
period,  said  to  be  the  richest  city  in  the  world,  and  all  over  this 
twisted  mountainous  ridge  of  land  connecting  two  continents, 
humanity,  at  one  time  and  another,  has  fought  and  struggled 
and  had  strange  adventures.  Besides,  in  time  prior  to  the 
earliest  days  of  which  we  have  history  a  race  of  beings  of 
whom  we  know  little  or  nothing  dwelt  here.  In  the  province 
of  Chiriqui,  for  instance,  graves  of  this  ancient  people  have 
been  discovered  and  opened,  yielding  small  images  of  solid 
gold,  pottery,  idols  of  stone,  gold  ornaments,  gold  bells  and  stone 
and  bone  implements.  Who  were  the  people  whose  flesh  became 
impalpable  dust  in  these  graves,  and  from  what  quarter  of  the 
planet  came  they  ?  Even  the  wise  archeologist  shakes  his  head 
and  wonders. 

The  extreme  length  of  the  Republic  of  Panama  is  about  four 
hundred  and  eighty  miles,  and  it  varies  in  width  from  thirty- 
five  to  one  hundred  and  ten  miles,  its  area  being  35,570  square 
miles.  This  is  just  a  little  smaller  than  the  State  of  Kentucky. 
The  meandering  Atlantic  coast  line  is  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  miles  long,  while  that  of  the  Pacific  is  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  miles  in  length.  It  has  a  mixed  population  that  is 
estimated  at  340,000  people. 

The  President  is  elected  every  four  years,  and  the  Vice- 
President  every  two  years.  The  President  has  but  four 
members  in  his  Cabinet,  but  it  is  quite  probable  that  additional 

40 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA 


41 


portfolios  will  be  created  as  their  need  is  felt.  There  is  a 
National  Assembly,  its  members  being  elected  for  a  term  of 
four  years,  and  it  holds  sessions  every  two  years.  An  educa- 
tional qualification  is  demanded  of  those  who  exercise  the 
right  of  franchise,  all  voters  being  required  to  be  able  to  write 
their  names. 

The  old  city  of  Panama,  eight  miles  down  the  Pacific  coast 
line  from  Panama  City  of  today,  is  now  in  ruins.  It  has  never 
recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  raid  of  Morgan,  the  pirate, 
and  his  men,  when  they  sacked  the  city,  stealing  everything  of 
value  and  burning  most  of  the  buildings.  The  only  thing  left 
is  the  old  church  tower,  a  relic  of  the  city's  grandeur  four  hun- 
dred years  ago.  There  are  legends  of  treasure,  supposed  to 
have  been  buried  here  by  the  famous  buccaneer,  and  occasion- 
ally search  is  made  by  hopeful  persons,  but  nothing  has  ever 
been  found.  It  seems  rather  unreasonable  to  believe  that  so 
insatiable  a  gang  of  thieves  as  were  Morgan  and  his  men  would 
leave  anything  valuable  behind. 

The  political  history  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  is  marked 
with  the  scars  of  many  a  battle  and  revolution.  The  most 
bloody  conflict  of  late  years  was  the  Civil  War  of  1900-1902. 
Panama  was  then  a  State  of  Colombia,  and  this  war  was 
between  the  Liberal  and  Conservative  parties.  Over  fifty 
thousand  people  were  killed  in  two  years  of  fighting.  Back 

in   1885  there  was  a  revolution  in 

'Ifc    ^jLji&b •'  the  city  of  Colon,  which  was  headed 

by  a  negro  lawyer  named  Preston, 
who  had  a  band  of  roughs  as  fol- 
lowers.    They  burned  the  city  and 
created  a  reign  of  terror  for  three 
weeks,   the   end   coming 
only  when  the  leader  was 
captured  and  hanged. 

When  the  Republic  of 
Colombia  refused  to 
grant  the  United  States 
the  rights  and  franchises 
necessary  to  insure  its 
position  in  constructing 


WHAT  REMAINS  OF  THE  CATHEDRAL  IN 


42  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  canal — the  same  as  had  been  granted  to  the  French  corpora- 
tion— the  province  of  Panama  on  November,  2,  1903,  declared 
its  independence,  and  all  nations,  with  the  exception  of  Colom- 
bia, soon  afterward  recognized  its  independence. 

There  was  no  serious  fighting  or  rioting  following  the 
secession  of  Panama.  It  is  true,  however,  that  a  Colombian 
gunboat  in  the  harbor  before  Panama  City  fired  eight  or  nine 
shots  into  the  city,  killing  one  poor  Chinaman  who  was  peace- 
fully lying  on  his  bed-mat  smoking  opium.  Besides  the  dream- 
ing Chinaman,  singularly  enough,  the  champion  game-cock  of 
the  Isthmus,  it  is  declared,  was  blown  to  atoms.  Nevertheless, 
it  was  one  of  the  most  peaceful  secessions  recorded  in  history. 

Panama  benefited  financially  by  its  secession  from  Colombia, 
as  might  be  expected.  It  received  $10,000,000  outright  from 
the  United  States,  and  nine  years  after  the  signing  of  the 
treaty,  in  which  the  Republic  of  Panama  granted  us  the  land 
and  rights  to  construct  a  canal,  we  are  to  begin  paying  them  an 
annuity  of  $250,000.  Of  the  $10,000,000  received  from  the 
United  States  by  Panama,  $6,000,000  is  deposited  in  New  York 
banks  to  afford  the  posterity  of  Panama  profit  from  the  sale  of 
the  Canal  Zone.  Thus  Uncle  Sam  "eats  his  cake  and  keeps  it" 
(in  New  York).  May  he  never  have  indigestion!  Three  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  of  this  above-mentioned  $10,000,000,  is 
deposited  in  New  York  banks  to  guarantee  the  parity  of  gold 
and  silver  in  Panama,  keeping  normal  the  ratio  of  2  to  i.  An 
'American  gold  dollar  is  held  as  being  worth  two  silver  Pana- 
manian dollars.  All  the  metal  money  of  Panama  is  coined  in 
the  United  States  mint,  under  a  provision  in  the  treaty  between 
the  two  countries.  The  remaining  $3,700,000  of  the  $10,000,- 
ooo  has  been  spent  by  the  Panama  Government  in  building 
schools,  a  theater,  a  palace  for  the  President,  roads,  and  in 
other  improvements  for  the  benefit  of  the  country  and  its 
people. 

Harking  back  to  a  bit  of  historic  diplomacy  it  seems  rele- 
vant to  remark  here  that  three  officers  of  the  United  States 
army  could,  if  they  would,  tell  an  interesting  story  of  a  break- 
fast which  took  place  at  a  country  house  on  the  plains  outside 
of  Panama  City,  at  which  were  present,  besides  the  three 
Americans,  twenty-five  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Panama.  It 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA  43 

was  immediately  after  this  breakfast  that  the  Republic  of  Pana- 
ma announced  its  secession  from  Colombia.  It  is  quite  evident 
that  the  United  States  Secret  Service  accomplishes  things  for 
its  country,  but  it  is  seldom  that  its  achievements  are  brought 
to  public  notice.  It  was  the  report  of  this  meeting  by  the  New 
York  World,  and  other  newspapers,  that  caused  the  suit  by 
the  United  States  against  those  papers.  The  suit  was  decided 
in  all  courts  against  the  Government. 

There  are  two  political  parties  in  the  Republic  of  Panama, 
the  Liberals  and  Conservatives.  The  Liberals  do  not  believe 
in  enforcing  the  marriage  laws  of  the  Catholic  Church,  nor  are 
they  hand-in-glove  with  the  Church,  as  are  the  Conservatives. 
The  Liberal  party  was  in  power  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  with 
Mr.  Arosemena  as  President.  He  receives  a  salary  of  $9,000 
a  year.  The  Panamanian  Government  is  without  an  army  or 
navy,  and  has  not  a  cent  in  the  treasury,  yet  it  maintains  large, 
costly  diplomatic  and  consular  service  to  represent  it  all  over 
the  world.  This  seems  uncalled  for,  considering  the  size  of  the 
country  and  the  smallness  of  its  population,  340,000. 

The  Republic  of  Panama  has  done  everything  within  reason 
to  induce  Colombia  to  recognize  its  independence,  even  agreeing 
to  pay  its  share,  $1,500,000,  of  Colombia's  national  debt  of 
$10,000,000,  which  was  contracted  when  Panama  was  a  State 
of  Colombia.  Thus  far  Colombia  has  refused  to  recognize 
Panama  as  an  independent  nation,  and  will  not  receive  any 
diplomatic  emissaries  that  Panama  has  sent  to  it. 

The  matter  remains  unsettled,  and  thus  far  without  resort 
to  arms.  The  Panama  Republic,  having  the  United  States  at 
its  back,  possibly  feels  somewhat  like  a  certain  litigant  I  heard 
of  in  Chicago.  A  lawyer  there,  for  some  years  a  police  magis- 
trate, was  a  natural  peacemaker  and  always  endeavored  to 
smooth  over  any  slight  differences  between  the  persons  brought 
before  him.  Once,  when  the  charge  involved  was  for  technical 
assault,  it  came  out  in  the  course  of  evidence  that  the  parties 
were  neighbors,  and  had  formerly  been  on  the  best  of  terms. 

"This  is  too  bad,  too  bad!"  commented  the  judge.  "And 
between  such  old  friends !  Is  this  not  a  case  that  might  be  set- 
tled out  of  court  ?" 

"I'm  sorry  to  say  that  it  can't  be  done,  your  honor/'  re- 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA 


45 


marked  the  plaintiff,  seriously.  "I  thought  of  that  myself,  but 
the  coward  won't  fight." 

In  the  old  days  Panama  City  was  one  of  the  most  disorderly 
cities  in  the  world,  robberies,  murders  and  hold-ups  being  every- 
day affairs.  But  today  it  is  a  quiet,  orderly  community.  Pan- 
ama has  a  thousand  policemen,  and  three  hundred  cabmen.  If 
one  has  trouble  with  a  policeman  the  officer  does  not  stop  to 
argue.  He  simply  blows  his  whistle,  and  like  magic,  the  of- 
fender is  surrounded  by  ten  more  policemen  and  hustled  off  to 
jail  in  a  real  American-made  Black  Maria.  The  cabs  are  all 
old  carryalls,  importations  from  the  States,  and  drawn  by  little 
runts  of  horses  or  mules,  and  the  drivers  are,  in  most  part, 
Jamaican  negroes.  One  may  drive  from  any  point  in  the  city 
to  another  for  ten  cents  gold.  Ten  cents  gold  means  ten  cents 
in  United  States  money,  or  twenty  cents  Panama  silver.  They 
have  no  gold  coin  or  paper  money  in  Panama. 

I  was  invited  to  a  reception  on  the  Japanese  battleship, 
Asama,  by  the  Admiral,  and  left  the  dock  on  a  launch  with  the 
President  of  Panama,  Mr.  Arosemena.  He  is  a  very  intelli- 


MUNICIPAL  TROOPS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  PANAMA. 


46  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

gent  and  cultured  gentleman,  and  we  conversed  at  length  on 
general  topics,  though  naturally  most  of  the  talk  related  to  his 
country,  and  I  gained  valuable  information  from  him.  There 
were  American  and  Panamanian  ladies  aboard  the  ship,  and 
everybody  danced  and  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  the  Admiral. 
The  guns  of  the  A sama  saluted  the  President  when  he  left,  and 
he  invited  me  to  go  ashore  with  him  in  his  private  launch. 
When  we  landed  at  the  dock  I  accepted  his  invitation  and  went 
to  the  Union  Club  to  have  refreshments  with  him  and  his  staff. 
I  proposed  a  toast  to  the  President  of  the  Republic  of  Panama, 
and  he  in  turn  proposed  the  health  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

If  the  United  States  will  make  the  Panama  Canal  Zone  free, 
meaning  free  of  import  and  export  duties,  it  will  become  a  dis- 
tributing center  for  the  goods  of  every  country  in  the  world 
when  the  canal  is  completed.  With  the  opening  of  the  canal 
ships  will  go  through  from  every  nation,  and  Panama  City  will 
become  another  Port  Said,  which  is  today  the  wickedest  city  in 
the  world,  as  well  as  one  of  the  best  from  a  commercial  stand- 
point. Boats  will  bring  adventurers  of  both  sexes,  who  will 
come  to  ply  their  trades,  having  many  customers  in  the  thou- 
sands of  people  who  will  stop  in  the  city,  and  Panama  City  will 
grow  as  Port  Said  has  since  the  completion  of  the  Suez  Canal. 

Whenever  there  is  a  parade  in  Panama  the  firemen  are  the 
prettiest  sight  of  all,  as  their  uniforms  are  quite  striking,  being 
made  of  red,  blue  and  gold.  The  chief  and  officers  of  the  fire 
department  were  attending  a  ball  at  the  President's  palace  just 
previous  to  our  advent  in  the  country,  when  the  fire  alarm  rang ; 
a  big  fire  was  raging  in  a  house  near  the  railway  station.  I 
was  told  that  the  chief  and  officers  went  to  their  homes  and 
put  on  their  brilliant  uniforms  before  going  to  lead  their  brave 
men  in  fighting  the  blaze,  and  when  they  finally  arrived  on  the 
scene  the  house  was  burned  to  the  ground. 

One  night  a  joking  American  called  up  the  chief  of  police  in 
Panama  City  on  the  telephone  and  told  him  there  would  be  a 
big  earthquake  that  night,  and  the  chief  instructed  his  men  to 
warn  all  the  people  to  get  out  of  their  houses.  The  Panamani- 
ans rushed  out  of  doors  when  they  heard  the  warning,  carrying 
their  most  valuable  possessions.  The  Americans  who  were  in 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA 


47 


MEMBERS  OF  THE   PANAMA   CITY   FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

on  the  joke  mixed  together  a  large  quantity  of  differently-col- 
ored Chinese  powders,  which  when  set  on  fire  made  a  colored 
light  never  before  seen,  and  the  frightened  Panamanians 
thought  for  a  while  that  the  end  of  the  world  had  surely  come. 
A  friend  of  mine,  who  attended  the  last  bull-fight  on  the 
Isthmus,  related  to  me  what  happened.  The  managers  of  the 
bull  ring  decided  to  produce  something  unique  in  the  way  of  a 
spectacle,  something  that  would  thrill  the  heart  and  cause  the 
hair  to  rise.  To  this  end  they  brought  a  cage  containing  a 
tiger  into  the  ring,  opened  the  cage  and  awaited  the  thrilling 
conflict  that  they  expected  would  follow.  However,  the  tiger 
only  glanced  at  the  angry  bull  and  then  bounded  up  the  barriers, 
attempting  to  climb  out  of  the  amphitheater  among  the  excited 
audience.  Many  of  the  Panamanians  drew  pistols  and  began 
shooting  at  the  tiger.  One  of  the  bullets  unfortunately  hit  the 
bull,  and  he,  too,  made  for  the  audience.  A  state  of  panic  en- 
sued, but  luckily  the  police  entered  and  killed  both  bull  and  tiger. 
When  the  excitement  had  subsided  it  was  found  that  one  poor 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA 


49 


peon  had  been  shot  in  the  ear,  that  being  the  extent  of  the 
casualties. 

We  wanted  to  see  something  of  the  interior  of  Panama,  and 
in  arranging  for  the  trip  met  a  "man  from  home."  He  was 
Missourian-born,  Californian-raised,  and  for  eight  years  had 
been  in  the  Canal  Zone,  formerly  working  for  the  Government, 
but  was  now  in  the  towing  business  for  himself.  He  had  a 
commodious  gasoline  tug,  and  I  employed  him  to  take  us  on 
a  brief  voyage  of  discovery.  He  charged  us  fifty  dollars  gold 
a  day.  Others  paid  him  but  twenty-five  dollars  per  day  for  the 
use  of  his  boat.  Being  from  the  United  States  we  had  to  pay 
double. 

We  sailed  one  morning  at  five  o'clock,  from  the  harbor  of 
Panama,  twenty-five  miles  across  the  bay  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Bayano  River,  the  most  navigable  river,  and  succeeded  in  cross- 
ing the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  stream  at  high  tide,  about  nine 
a.  m.  We  spent  the  day  on  the  river. 

On  our  return  trip  the  tide  was  going  out  and  we  ran  onto 
a  big  rock  that  nearly  wrecked  us.     We  were  stuck  fast  very 
hard  and  the  boat  lay  on  its  side  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  de- 
grees.   The  tipping  of  the  boat  landed  everything  prepared  for 
our  dinner  in  the  water,  including  the  table  and  chairs  that 
were  on  the  deck,  but  by  moving  the  big  tanks 
of  gasoline  to  the  "high  side"  of  the  deck,  we 
were    saved    from    turning    completely    over. 
The  crew  consisted  of  the  owner,  who  ran  the 
engine,  a  half-breed  pilot  and  the  cook,  who 
was  a  boy  apparently  not  above  ten  or  twelve 
years  of  age. 

The  fright  exhibited  by  the  crew  when  we 
went  aground  was  very  amusing,  the  owner, 
pilot  and  the  boy  talking  Spanish-Indian, 
gesticulating  wildly,  and  so  excited  that  they 
forgot  to  stop  the  engine.  I  did  not  under- 
stand their  tempestuous  talk,  but  it  was  just 
as  well;  without  much  doubt  it  would  have 
proved  unprintable.  There  was  nothing  to 
do  but  wait  for  the  next  tide.  The  photog- 
rapher and  Charlie,  my  colored  boy,  remained 

NATIVE  CHILDREN  OF 
A  PANAMA. 


50  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

on  deck,  while  my  secretary  and  1  went  into  the  cabin  to  get 
away  from  the  mosquitoes  and  insects.  But  we  did  not 
better  matters  at  all.  About  midnight  the  incoming  tide  floated 
the  tug,  and  owing  to  the  ballast  we  had  moved  to  the  "high 
side,"  the  boat  suddenly  turned  over  on  her  other  side,  and 
everybody  and  everything  on  the  deck  went  into  the  river.  My 
secretary  and  I  rushed  out  from  the  little  cabin  and  aided  the 
poor  photographer,  Charlie  and  the  drenched  crew,  in  their 
spluttering  efforts  to  get  out  of  the  water.  We  reached  Panama 
at  daylight,  feeling  that  we  had  had  experience  enough  for 
twenty- four  hours. 

While  sailing  along  the  Bayano  River  we  passed  several 
plantations,  owned  by  American  companies,  which  were  from 
sixty  to  one  hundred  thousand  acres  in  extent.  At  San  An- 
tonio, the  Illinois  Lumber  Company,  of  Peoria,  111.,  has  a  tract 
of  eight  thousand  acres.  I  saw  machinery  there  for  a  sawmill, 
which,  on  account  of  the  lack  of  labor,  had  not  been  set  up. 
Farther  up  the  river  the  United  Fruit  Company  has  a  large  tract, 


A  NATIVE  VILLAGE  ON  THE 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA  51 

and  just  beyond  this  concession  is  one  owned  by  some  Cali- 
fornia people. 

A  new  land  law  of  the  Panama  Government  permits  the 
purchase  of  only  three  hundred  acres  at  a  time,  and  it  is  my 
opinion  that  all  of  the  interior  lands  will  remain  undeveloped 
until  the  Panama  Canal  is  finished,  when  the  thirty  thousand 
laborers,  accustomed  to  working  in  the  tropics,  will  be  looking 
for  homes  and  employment.  Those  who  have  saved  money 
will  take  up  land  and  grow  bananas,  rice,  sugar-cane,  etc.,  and 
those  who  have  not  saved  will  be  glad  to  go  to  work  on  the  big 
plantations. 

There  are  great  forests  of  mango  trees,  which  make  fine 
railroad  ties  and  piles.  I  was  greatly  surprised  that  the  United 
States  Government  had  not  utilized  the  timber  of  the  Isthmus 
in  the  wood  construction  on  the  canal  and  railway.  All  the 
piles,  ties,  and  timber  of  different  sorts  have  been  shipped 
from  the  States,  further  depleting  our  scanty  forests  and  swell- 
ing the  receipts  of  the  Government  line  of  boats  for  transporta- 


5AYANO  RIVER,  PANAMA  REPUBLIC. 


52  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

tion  charges.  Right  along  the  line  of  the  railroad  is  timber 
enough  to  make  ties  for  ten  lines  like  the  Panama  Railway,  yet 
all  ties  are  shipped  to  the  Zone  from  New  York.  It  is  difficult 
to  understand,  save  on  the  hypothesis  that  somewhere  in  the 
operation  the  self-interest  of  some  person  or  persons  is  being 
served. 

At  the  head  of  navigation  of  the  Bayano  River  we  were 
well  into  the  San  Bias  Indian  country.  These  natives  are 
surly,  warlike  people,  who  once  a  month  paddle  their  balsas 
(canoes  or  dugouts),  filled  with  rubber  and  fruits,  to  Panama 
City  to  trade  or  sell.  They  also  bring  in  the  only  gold  mined 
or  found  in  the  republic,  but  they  will  not  tell  where  they  get  it, 
and  prospectors  in  their  country,  it  is  said,  are  shot  at  with 
poisoned  arrows,  which  is  discouraging  even  to  hunters  of  the 
magic  stuff  we  call  gold. 

The  principal  sports  of  the  Panamanians,  since  bull-fighting 
has  been  stopped  by  law,  is  cock-fighting.  Seemingly  every 
male  native,  from  ten  years  old  up,  has  his  prize  game-cock, 
and  he  will  wager  every  cent  he  has,  and  sometimes  the  few 
clothes  he  wears  on  his  back,  that  his  bird  can  lick  any  other 
bird  in  the  country.  Sunday  and  fiesta  days  are  the  cock-fight- 
ing days,  and  as  in  all  Spanish-speaking  countries  there  are 
about  ten  feast  days  a  month,  you  see  that  the  Panamanians 
have  plenty  of  time  to  enjoy  their  national  pastime. 

The  lottery  in  Panama  is  a  great  source  of  revenue  to  its 
owners  and  the  Government.  The  orginal  concession  was 
granted  by  the  Republic  of  Colombia  to  run  fifty  years.  The 
men  who  hold  the  charter,  and  it  is  said  the  Church  owns  most 
of  the  stock,  have  ten  years  of  the  concession  still  to  run. 
When  Panama  became  a  republic  it  granted  another  concession 
to  some  Chinamen,  but  this  was  taken  away  from  the  conces- 
sionaries when  they  failed  to  pay  one  of  the  capital  prizes. 

That  the  eyes  of  the  world  are  on  Panama  and  the  big 
canal  is  evidenced  by  the  clever  men  the  various  nations  have 
sent  to  represent  their  Governments  in  the  Republic  of  Panama. 
Thomas  C.  Dawson,  of  Iowa,  American  minister  to  Panama 
in  1910,  now  deceased,  was  a  well-informed  man  on  Latin- 
American  affairs,  and  whenever  there  was  a  disturbance  in 
any  of  those  countries  our  Government  sent  him  to  represent 


REPUBLIC  OF  PANAMA  53 

it.  Mr.  Mallett,  the  English  consul-general,  is  an  able  man, 
having  had  wide  experience  in  Latin-American  countries.  Mr. 
Frederic  Pezet,  who  represented  Peru,  is  one  of  the  most  in- 
fluential men  of  that  nation.  He  has  written  several  standard 
books  on  his  country,  and  is  well  informed  on  all  questions  of 
importance.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  dining  at  his  home  in  Pan- 
ama City,  and  of  meeting  his  wife,  a  cultured  Peruvian  lady. 
There  were  at  this  dinner  the  British  minister  and  his  wife, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Mrs.  Goethals,  and  several  distin- 
guished Panamanians.  I  am  glad  to  state  that  Mr.  Pezet  has 
since  been  appointed  to  Washington  as  minister  to  the  United 
States  from  Peru. 

In  here  taking  leave  of  the  Panama  Republic  and  the  Canal 
Zone,  I  think  I  may  truthfully  assert  that  at  present  they  con- 
stitute quite  as  interesting  a  region  as  may  be  found  anywhere 
on  earth.  As  for  the  future  of  this  small  arena  of  activity,  one 
needs  no  more  than  a  moderate  gift  of  imagination  to  forecast 
that  the  eyes  of  the  world  will  find  it  a  center  of  interest  for 
many  years  to  come,  and  perhaps  for  all  time. 

It  is  frequently  said  that  some  day  the  United  States  will 
take  over  the  whole  republic,  but  I  feel  about  it  like  the  old 
Tennessee  mountaineer.  He  had  never  seen  a  railroad  or  train, 
and,  while  camping  one  evening  beside  a  new  railroad  track,  the 
night  express  went  whizzing  by.  The  roar  of  the  engine,  toot- 
ing of  the  whistle,  clanging  of  the  bell,  and  gleam  of  the  head- 
light were  all  new  to  him,  as  they  were  to  his  faithful  dog, 
which  chased  yelping  down  the  track  after  the  flying  train.  The 
old  man  called  excitedly  after  the  dog:  "Come  back,  Shep, 
come  back!  Don't  try  to  catch  it!  I  don't  know  what  the 
thing  is — neither  do  you,  and  I  don't  know  what  you  would  do 
with  it,  if  you  did  catch  it !"  The  question  is,  would  we  really 
know  what  to  do  with  the  Panama  Republic  if  we  did  take  it? 


ECUADOR 

Area  in  square  miles,  120,000,  about  three  times  the  size  of  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania — Total  exports  (1010),  $13,666- 
371;  imports,  $8,024,105;  exports  to  the  United  States 
(1911),  $3,628,805;  imports  from  the  United  States,  $2- 
238,536 — Chief  resources,  coffee,  rubber,  ivory,  nuts,  cacao 
(chocolate),  cabinet  woods,  Panama  hats,  Peruvian  bark — 
Large  mineral  deposits,  but  little  developed — Population, 
estimated,  1,300,000,  nearly^  two-thirds  Indian — Army, 
peace  footing,  4,500,  war  footing,  05,000 — Navy,  2  ships, 
130  officers  and  men — Capital,  Quito,  population,  80,000. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
A  LAND  OF  CONTRADICTIONS. 

SOME  one  has  said  that  it  is  the  uncertainty  of  women 
that  causes  men  to  go  "dippy"  about  them.  It  is  a  sim- 
ilar quality,  perhaps,  that  makes  traveling  to  distant  and 
unvisited  scenes  so  fascinating.  Whether  or  not  one  is  going 
to  arrive,  and  the  changes  and  unexpected  daily  newness  of 
things  on  the  way,  are  as  uncertain  as  a  woman's  moods.  The 
illustration  is  peculiarly  pat  when  applied  to  traveling  down 
the  western  side  of  South  America,  with  its  visions  of  glitter- 
ing ocean,  green  islands,  forest-covered  headlands,  wastes  of 
sand  and  starry  nights,  as  well  as  hours  of  fog  and  puzzling 
days  that  try  one's  soul. 

Much  to  my  surprise  I  found  the  west  coast  of  tropical 
South  America,  for  the  most  part,  pleasantly  cool.  Every 
night  after  leaving  Panama  we  slept  under  sheets  and  blankets. 
I  have  crossed  the  equator  twenty  times  along  the  coasts  of 
other  countries  and  always  suffered  from  the  heat.  There  is 
a  "reason  why"  for  everything,  and  the  explanation  of  this 
coolness  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America  is  the  Hum- 
boldt  cold  ocean  current  which,  coming  from  the  Antarctic 
Ocean,  runs  north  at  the  rate  of  three  miles  an  hour  along  the 
west  coast  of  this  grand  division,  cooling  the  tropical  heat  to 
a  degree  that  is  quite  comfortable. 

54 


56  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

It  is  evident  from  the  construction  of  the  ocean  coast  steam- 
ers of  the  Pacific  that  they  do  not  expect  to  encounter  big  storms 
or  very  severe  weather,  as  all  the  deck  staterooms  open  out, 
like  those  of  river  steamers.  There  is  not  a  harbor  in  the  en- 
tire 4,ooo-mile  stretch  of  Pacific  coast  from  Panama  to  the 
Straits  of  Magellan,  where  ocean  steamers  go  up  to  the  dock 
to  receive  and  discharge  passengers  and  freight.  Buenos 
Aires  and  Bahia  Blanca  in  Argentina,  and  Santos  in  Brazil  are 
the  only  ports  in  South  America  where  boats  drawing  twenty- 
three  feet  of  water  are  berthed  alongside  the  wharf.  The 
greatest  expense  in  shipping  by  water  along  the  coast  is 
the  loading  and  unloading  of  cargoes,  for  at  all  ports  the  big 
steamers  lie  out  in  deep  water,  and  passengers  and  freight  are 
taken  ashore  by  small  boats.  Owing  to  frequent  foggy 
weather,  making  the  port  is  a  very  uncertain  matter,  and  as  the 
officials  at  a  port  will  not  work  after  dark,  one  may  lose  an 
entire  day  on  account  of  an  hour's  delay. 

When  there  is  no  mist  or  fog  the  air  is  clear  and  light,  how- 
ever, but  there  were  many  days  during  my  voyage  when  it  was 
so  dense  that  no  photographing  could  be  done.  Owing  to  the 
absence  of  cold  storage  accommodations,  the  Pacific  coast 
steamers,  as  far  south  as  Lima,  Peru,  carry  live  stock  on  the 
hoof  and  fowls  in  cages  all  the  time,  and  when  one  awakens  in 
the  morning  the  familiar  mooing  of  cattle,  bleating  of  sheep, 
crowing  of  roosters  and  cackle  of  hens,  is  likely  at  first  to  make 
one  think  he  is  near  a  barnyard.  One  morning,  for  lack  of 
something  more  exciting  to  do,  I  strolled  into  the  "nether  re- 
gions" of  the  vessel  and  watched  them  butcher  the  animals  that 
were  to  furnish  the  meat  for  our  dinner,  and  while  there  learned 
that  in  counting  the  cattle  on  hand  that  morning  it  was  found 
that  there  was  one  more  than  the  day  before — a  calf  having 
joined  the  herd  during  the  night.  At  breakfast  my  waiter 
served  me  with  freshly  laid  eggs,  so  you  see  that  with  tropical 
fruits  and  fresh  fish  added,  a  passenger  on  these  boats  fares 
very  well.  But  the  primitive  style  of  carrying  provisions,  as 
compared  with  methods  employed  on  the  Atlantic  liners,  is 
little  less  than  startling. 

The  first  port  we  stopped  at  after  leaving  Panama  was 
Buenaventura,  Colombia,  and  a  truly  tropical  scene  met  my 


ECUADOR 


57 


eye,  as  I  stood  at  the  ship's  rail  and  gazed  off  toward  the  city 
of  low,  red,  iron-roofed  buildings  that  seemed  to  be  set  in  a 
jungle  of  cane  and  bamboo,  relieved  by  mango  trees.  The 
anchor  had  hardly  touched  bottom  before  we  were  surrounded 
by  a  fleet  of  small  boats  owned  by  yellow  or  bronze  skinned 
men  and  women,  each  one  intent  on  making  the  stopping  of 
our  steamer  as  remunerative  to  himself  as  possible. 

Four  hundred  miles  south  of  Buenaventura,  and  very  near 
the  equator,  we  came  to  Guayaquil,  the  port  of  Ecuador. 

Ecuador  is  a  land  of  contradictions.  The  traveler  arrives 
at  Guayaquil  laden  with  quinine  tablets ;  he  learns  that  he  can 
journey  in  a  day  from  fever-stricken  lowlands  to  temperate 
plateaux.  He  brings  summer  clothing  for  a  country  crossed 
by  the  equator,  and  nearly  perishes  from  cold  on  the  frozen 
slopes  of  gigantic  peaks.  He  finds  a  Government  as  unstable 
as  the  volcano-shaken  soil ;  yet  notes  that,  in  spite  of  quakes 
and  revolutions,  three  important  industries  thrive  on  these 
turbulent  shores. 

The  history  of  this  interesting  and  little  known  country 
trails  back  into  the  shadowy  past.  On  the  Manabi  coast  hills, 
where  the  Panama  hat 
weavers  toil  today,  arche- 
ologists  have  discovered 
the  sculptured  stone  seats 
of  a  prehistoric  people. 
The  Caras  of  Quito  came 
later  and  are  within  the 
reach  of  oral  tradition. 

Ecuador  has  its  Cleo- 
patra. When  Huayna- 
Capac,  aggressive  ruler  of 
the  Incas,  marched  north- 
ward to  subjugate  the 
Caras  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  his  queen  and 
heir  remained  behind  in 
Cuzco.  In  Quito,  the 
Peruvian  conqueror  fell  a 
victim  to  the  wiles  of  a 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  THE  HARBOR  OF  GUAYAQUIL, 
ECUADOR. 


58  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Cara  princess,  and  to  Atahualpa,  the  son  whom  she  bore  him, 
he  willed  half  his  kingdom. 

We  all  know  the  tragic  story  of  the  fall  of  the  Incas — of 
Atahualpa's  fate.  The  proudest  race  of  the  Americans  was 
enslaved  and  Ecuador  became  a  colony  of  Spain.  Since  then 
Quito,  the  capital,  has  been  the  stage  of  many  a  dramatic 
scene  from  those  picturesque  days  when  Gonzalo  Pizarro  rode 
out  of  its  gates  with  the  first  expedition  to  cross  the  Andes, 
on  down  to  the  bloody  atrocities  of  recent  revolutions. 

The  land  which  bears  the  name  of  the  equator  rivals  her 
sister  republics  in  variety  of  scenery  and  of  climate.  Her 
feet  rest  on  the  dazzling  chrome-green  shores  of  a  tropic 
river ;  her  head  wears  the  fleecy  crown  of  eterna  snows.  With 
one  hand  she  points  to  the  wide  Pacific ;  with  the  other  to  the 
matted  jungle  of  the  Amazonian  Valley.  Colombia,  Brazil, 


GENERAL  VIEW   OF  THE  WATER-FRONT  AND  CITY 


ECUADOR 


59 


and  Peru  are  her  neighbors,  but  who  can  say  where  the  terri- 
tory of  the  one  actually  begins  and  the  other  ends? 

Ecuador  is  almost  three  times  the  size  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  but  she  has  only  as  many  inhabitants  as  Phila- 
delphia. Nine-tenths  of  her  population  live  in  highland  val- 
leys—a mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  sea— between  the 
two  great  parallel  ranges  of  the  Andes.  The  greater  portion 
of  her  domain  lies  in  a  practically  unexplored  forest  country, 
inhabited  by  savage  and  semi-civilized  Indian  tribes.  The 
most  ot  the  early  expeditions  to  the  headwaters  ot  the  Ama- 
zon were  made  from  the  city  of  Quito,  yet  the  republican 
descendants  of  the  Ecuadorian  Spaniards  have  shown  neither 
the  energy  to  cultivate,  nor  the  nerve  to  hold,  the  conquests  of 
their  sturdy  ancestors. 

Commercially,  Ecuador  is  slowly  struggling  forward.  In 
1911  the  total  trade  amounted  to  $21,000,000,  or  $14  per 


OF  GUAYAQUIL,  THE  CHIEF  PORT  OF  ECUADOR 


60  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

capita.  Of  this  the  United  States'  share  was  thirty-five  per 
cent.  Seven-eighths  of  this  commerce  passed  through  the  port 
of  Guayaquil. 

Guayaquil,  the  front  door  of  the  republic,  is  notoriously 
unhealthful.  This  well-earned  reputation  is  brought  up  to  date 
by  news  of  the  death  by  yellow  fever  of  Commander  Berto- 
lette,  of  the  United  States  gunboat  Yorktown,  while  guarding 
American  interests  during  the  recent  revolution.  In  the  long 
list  of  victims  from  this  scourge  are  names  of  many  other 
Americans,  among  them  that  of  Thomas  Nast,  the  famous 
cartoonist,  who  served  as  United  States  consul  at  Guayaquil. 

This  chief  port  and  metropolis  of  the  country  owes  its 
commercial  importance  to  its  situation  on  a  bank  of  the  broad 
Guayas,  the  largest  river  on  the  Pacific  side  of  the  continent. 
It  lies  near  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Guayaquil,  and  its  harbor 
is  so  deep  that  large  ocean-going  vessels  can  steam  close  to  its 
shores,  but  not  its  docks. 

The  unfortunate  people  who  exist  in  the  miasmatic  air  of 
this  fever  trap  have  only  one  reason  for  remaining — an  oppor- 
tunity for  money  making. 

The  city  stretches  for  two  miles  along  the  west  bank  of 
the  Guayas,  presenting  an  attractive  appearance,  when  viewed 
from  the  ship's  deck,  but  when  personally  inspected  the  illu- 
sion is  dispelled.  During  the  rainy  season — December  to 
June — the  fierce  sun  of  the  equator  glares  down  between 
showers,  coating  the  stagnant  water  on  every  street  with  a 
sickly  green  scum.  The  pretentious  vari-colored  buildings, 
which  line  the  main  streets,  prove  of  flimsy  construction,  re- 
sembling those  erected  in  our  cities  for  the  housing  of  street 
fairs.  This  style  of  temporary  construction  is  indeed  but  fleet- 
ing, for  the  town  has  been  burned  again  and  again — with  an 
almost  complete  destruction  some  dozen  years  ago,  when  a 
loss  of  $20,000,000  was  estimated.  The  city  is  still  poorly 
protected  against  fire  and  the  prevailing  insurance  rate  is  as 
high  as  seven  per  cent. 

Guayaquil  could  easily  be  made  healthful.  It  lies  between 
two  waterways,  and  a  series  of  ditches  would  permit  the  high 
tide  water  from  the  Pacific  to  flush  it  twice  daily.  Most  elab- 
orate plans  were  drawn  and  lithographed,  some  five  years  ago, 


Vm 

M 


62  ILLUSTRA TED  SO  UTH  AMERICA 

for  the  sanitation  of  the  port,  but  have  not  yet  been  carried 
into  effect. 

Since  bubonic  plague  has  often  broken  out  in  Guayaquil, 
and  smallpox  and  yellow  fever  are  nearly  always  prevalent 
there,  the  Panama  Commission  were  alarmed  lest  one  or  all 
of  these  diseases  might  be  transmitted  to  the  canal  district. 
Wishing  to  prevent  such  a  disaster,  the  commission  dispatched 
a  trusted  physician  to  Guayaquil  with  the  hope  of  bringing 
about  a  more  sanitary  condition  in  that  city.  What  followed 
illustrates  why  Guayaquil  remains  a  menace  to  the  cities  of 
the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America. 

The  physician  sent  by  the  Canal  Commission  was  received 
and  listened  to  attentively  by  the  Guayaquil  city  council,  and 
they  grew  so  enthusiastic  about  sanitation  that  they  offered 
him  $500  per  month  to  remain  with  them  and  superintend  the 
work  of  rendering  the  city  safe  from  plague.  The  president 
of  the  (juayaquil  council  was  also  Vice-President  of  Ecuador. 
The  physician  from  the  commission  at  once  began  organizing 
the  sanitary  work,  killing  rats,  and  examining  them  for  bubonic 
plague,  etc.  Presently  he  discovered  a  rat  that  was  infected 
by  the  plague.  He  reported  it  to  the  president  of  the  city 
council,  stating  that  his  discoveries  indicated  that  bubonic 
plague  was  about  to  break  out.  To  his  astonishment  the  offi- 
cial charged  him  with  having  introduced  the  plague,  so  that  the 
physician  might  continue  drawing  his  salary.  The  official 
challenged  the  doctor  to  a  duel  in  his  rage.  The  doctor  being 
the  challenged  party  had  the  right  of  choice  of  weapons.  Hav- 
ing only  contempt  for  the  childish  stupidity  of  the  official,  Ke 
named  a  very  unusual  weapon,  nothing  less  than  that  himself 
and  the  official  should  be  inoculated  with  a  new  serum  for 
bubonic  plague,  it  not  yet  being  surely  known  if  the  serum 
would  kill  the  one  who  took  it,  or  whether  or  not  it  would 
render  the  person  immune  to  the  plague,  stating,  "If  we  must 
die,  let  us  die  in  the  interest  of  science."  The  daring  pro- 
posal frightened  the  official  and  he  withdrew  the  challenge. 
Later  the  physician,  being  unable  to  effect  any  benefits  to  a 
town  whose  officials  were  so  ignorant  and  suspicious,  returned 
to  Panama. 

The  Guayaquil  and  Quito  Railway,  connecting  the  port 


ECUADOR  63 

with  the  national  capital,  was  completed  about  two  years  ago, 
crowning  the  labors  of  over  thirty-one  years.  This  road  rep- 
resents an  outlay  of  large  sums  of  money.  The  first  section 
of  the  line  was  comparatively  easy  of  construction,  but  the 
second  section,  from  the  Valley  of  Chauchan  to  Quito,  was 
attended  by  great  engineering  difficulties.  In  1897,  the  late 
President  Alfaro  approved  the  contract  with  an  American 
syndicate,  represented  by  Mr.  Arthur  Harman,  who  under- 
took to  construct  a  permanent  right  of  way  to  Quito,  to  put 
the  then  existing  road  in  good  condition,  and  to  make  more 
convenient  connections  between  Guayaquil  and  Duran,  the 
town  across  the  Guayas  River,  which  is  the  railway  terminus. 
Six  years  was  fixed  as  the  limit  of  time  required  for  the  work, 
but  unforeseen  difficulties  arose,  and  eleven  years  elapsed  be- 
fore the  line  was  completed. 

The  operation  of  this  railway  is  expensive,  owing  to  the 
necessity  of  importing  coal  from  Australia.  Coal  fields  exist 
within  forty  miles  of  the  main  line,  and  when  these  beds  are 
explored  and  connected  with  the  railway  by  a  branch  line,  the 
road  should  pay  handsomely. 

Other  railroads  of  lesser  importance  have  been  built  or 
are  in  course  of  building  in  Ecuador,  but  the  Guayaquil  and 
Quito  Railway  is,  and  will  long  continue  to  be,  the  main  high- 
way of  travel.  The  journey  of  227  miles  up  to  the  capital  is 
made  in  two  days,  a  vast  improvement  over  the  old  mule  and 
foot  trail  on  which  the  weary  traveler  in  former  days  was 
obliged  to  spend  two  weeks. 

Crossing  the  stately  Guayas  River  to  the  little  town  of 
Duran,  the  railway  terminus,  it's  "All  aboard  for  Quito!— 
Quito,  the  City  of  Eternal  Spring!" 

For  seventy  miles  we  traversed  the  lowlands,  alternating 
between  swamp  and  jungle,  plantation  and  pasture  land. 
Herds  of  cattle  browsed  shoulder-deep  in  tall  grass.  In  the 
swampy  villages  we  saw  numerous  huts  resting  on  piles,  only 
the  upper  story  being  inhabited.  The  room  below  serves  as  a 
shelter  for  dogs,  hogs,  and  arrieros  (muleteers). 

Then  we  began  to  climb,  winding,  snake-fashion,  through 
narrow  ravines,  across  deep/  gorges  up  to  Huigra,  4,000  feet 
above  the  sea.  From  there  we  simply  crept  up  precipitous 


ECUADOR 


STREET  IN   QUITO,  ECUADOR,  ON   WHICH  ARE  SITUATED  THE 
PRINCIPAL  HOTELS  AND  NEWSPAPERS. 

mountain  walls  to  "The  Devil's  Nose,"  where  we  backed  onto 
a  siding  to  catch  our  breath  and  reverse  the  engine. 

Up,  up,  toils,  tugs,  puffs  our  sturdy  engine.  We  skirt  Ti- 
tanic chasms;  the  mountain  borders  loom  to  the  sky.  At  last 
we  reach  the  table-land  and  are  12,000  feet  above  the  sea! 

Chimborazo,  Emperor  of  the  Equator,  and  Cotopaxi,  King 
of  the  Volcanoes,  rule  here.  The  greater  giant  of  these  peaks 
towers  10,000  feet  above  the  plain,  22,498  feet  above  the 
ocean's  level! 

Our  way  then  turned  across  a  vast  lava  tract,  then 
through  a  mountain  pass,  and  we  came  to  a  verdant  plain,  200 
miles  long  by  thirty  miles  wide,  a  wonderful  plain,  overshad- 
owed by  twenty  gigantic  volcanoes,  watch  towers  of  the  gods. 
Here  lies  Quito,  the  ancient  and  modern  capital,  the  pulse,  the 
heart  of  Ecuador. 

The  name  Quito,  or  Quitu,  is  of  a  race  of  people  who  in- 
habited this  plateau  before  the  reign  of  the  Caras.  Tradition 
has  it  that  the  Caras  came  on  rafts  from  Peru,  settled  on  the 
coast  and  ascended  the  mountains  to  conquer  the  Quitus.  His- 
tory repeats  itself;  Incas  gave  way  to  Europeans;  Spaniards 
to  Republicans.  Revolution  followed  revolution,  yet  in  spite 
5 


66 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


of  many  changes  of  rule,  of  political  intrigue  and  strife,  in 
spite  even  of  Nature's  kaleidoscopic  hand  in  the  shifting 
topography  of  the  country,  Quito  has  preserved  her  old  land- 
marks and  customs.  Ecuadorians,  of  the  educated  class  of 
Spanish  blood,  are  in  the  march  of  progress;  but  the  peas- 
antry, the  great  mass  of  the  people,  are  of  a  race  of  ages  long 
past.  Seventy  per  cent  of  the  80,000  inhabitants  of  the  capi- 
tal are  of  pure  Indian  blood.  The  Quitus  still  live  in  Quito. 

The  city,  of  course,  has  its  modern  side,  its  men  of  culture, 
its  pretty  dark-eyed  women  who  wear  European  gowns  and 
ride  in  well-appointed  carriages.  It  has  electricity,  telephones, 
and  rather  expensive  hotels  for  a  West  Coast  Latin-American 
city.  It  has  Government  buildings,  churches,  a  cathedral,  an 
opera  house  and  park  promenade.  None  of  these  is  half  so 


A  STREET  SCENE  IN   THE  TOWN  OF  AMBATO,  ECUADOR. 


ECUADOR 


67 


interesting  to  the  North  American  as  the  old  architecture  and 
the  picturesque  natives.  We  have  progress  at  home,  but  we 
sadly  lack  picturesqueness  and  local  coloring.  These  are  the 
great  charm  of  South  America. 

The  bamboo  carrier  bearing  a  load  twice  his  own  height, 
plodding  over  the  cobblestones  with  the  aid  of  two  huge 
poles ;  the  gaudy  dancers  and  betinseled  masqueraders  who 
follow  festival  processions;  the  huge  hunchbacks,  who  prove 
on  inspection  to  be  normal  men  with  enormous  water  jars 
strapped  to  their  backs — such  types  delight  the  foreigner. 

And  on  the  narrow  city  streets,  overhung  with  little  Old- 
World  balconies,  a  strange,  scantily  clothed  creature  is  now 
and  then  seen  among  the  town  Indians  and  mestizos.  He  is  of 
the  Napo  River  tribe,  from  far  across  the  Andes. 

The  vast  forest  country  beyond  the  Royal  Range  is  called 
La  Region  Oriental— 'The 
East."  It  is  a  wilderness, 
its  only  roads  the  flowing 
rivers  rushing  down  to  the 
Amazon.  Here  Orellana 
passed  on  his  way  to  dis- 
cover the  "King  of  Rivers" 
in  the  fifteenth  century. 
We  really  know  little  more 
now  of  its  people  than  he 
and  his  companions  ob- 
served. 

The  Napo  River  folk, 
who  occasionally  venture 
up  to  the  highlands  and 
civilization,  are  Christian- 
ized Indians.  They  speak 
Quichua,  the  universal  lan- 
guage of  the  Andean  high- 
landers,  and  they  eat  salt. 
These  are  the  two  great 
characteristics  which  place 
them  in  the  class  of  Indios, 
or  "tame  savages."  The 

INDIAN,  WIFE  AND  CHILD, 
MANABI,  ECUADOR. 


68 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


GROUP  OF  ANISHIRI  INDIANS,  ON  THE  ARABELA  RIVER,  NAPO, 
ECUADOR. 


wild  tribes,  the  Infeles,  or  infidels,  cannot  speak  Quichua  and 
eat  no  salt.     The  highlanders  fear  and  scorn  them. 

Of  the  wild  hordes,  the  Zaparos,  occupying  the  territory 
between  the  Napo  and  Pastaza  Rivers;  the  Jivaros,  Piojes, 
Iquitos  Mazanes  and  others — few  travelers  can  speak  authori- 


ECUADOR 


69 


tatively.  Even  to  the  average  Ecuadorian,  "La  Region  Orien- 
tal" is  almost  unknown. 

Another  little  known  and  most  interesting  territory  belong- 
ing to  Ecuador  is  embraced  in  the  Galapagos  group  of  islands, 
about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  westward  in  the  Pacific. 
The  total  area  of  these  lava  rocks  is  3,170  square  miles,  with 
a  population  of  less  than  five  hundred.  When  discovered,  in 
1535,  these  islands  were  uninhabited,  but  were  soon  the  resort 
of  buccaneers,  whalers  and  a  few  white  settlers  from  the 
mainland.  The  cotton,  tobacco,  and  other  plants  introduced 
by  these  colonists  now  run  wild,  as  do  also  cattle,  horses,  dogs, 
goats  and  other  imported  animals. 

Of  deep  interest  to  zoologists  is  the  native  fauna  of  these 
islands.  A  gigantic  tortoise,  two  strange  kinds  of  lizards, 
snakes  and  land  birds  of  a  distinct  species,  were  discovered 
here  by  the  famous  naturalist,  Darwin.  This  isolated  develop- 
ment was  one  of  the  striking  facts  which  ultimately  led  to  the 
great  scientist's  conclusions  regarding  the  origin  of  species, 
and  from  that  on  to  the  modern  theory  of  evolution. 

But  not  the  scientists  only  have  an  eye  on  the  Galapagos 
Isles.  Uncle  Sam  covets  them.  Here  lies  one  of  the  logical 
points  in  the  Pacific  for  the  defense  of  the  Panama  Canal. 

The  opening  of  the  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama 


A  PLANTATION   SCENE  ON  THE  GALAPAGOS  ISLANDS,  POSSESSIONS 

OF  ECUADOR. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


sounds  the  bugle  call  of 
West  Coast  development  in 
South  America.  Ecuador 
will  then  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  "join  the  proces- 
sion." Her  great  resources 
are  yet  to  be  developed.  She 
needs  white  settlers,  par- 
ticularly in  the  "Oriental" 
region,  and  more  railroads. 
Above  all,  she  needs  peace. 
Her  vast  domain — from 
Andean  peak  to  jungle, 
from  rich  pasture  land  to 
lava  rock — is  in  need  of  a 
stable  government.  And 
we  might  also  pray  for  a 
prevention  against  v  o  1- 
canoes. 

Ecuador  leads  the  world 
as  a  cacao  producer.  Her 
crop  last  year  amounted  to 
two  hundred  billion  beans, 
an  amount,  it  is  estimated, 
sufficient  to  furnish  every 
person  in  the  United  States 
with  thirty-six  cups  of 
chocolate.  America  heads 
the  list  as  a  cacao  con- 
sumer. Coffee  and  tea  were 
brought  to  our  shores  from 
the  Old  World,  but  cacao 

is  indigenous,  a  native  product  of  all  tropical  America.  The 
Aztecs  of  Mexico  made  a  drink  from  it  in  prehistoric  times, 
and  their  name,  chocolatl,  was  corrupted  by  the  Spaniards  into 
cacao.  We  have  changed  only  one  letter  of  the  old  Aztec 
word,  but  it  is  as  cacao,  rather  than  as  chocolate,  that  the 
product  is  known  throughout  much  of  the  world. 

The  cacao  beans  of  commerce  resemble  lima  beans  in  size, 


CACAO,  OR  CHOCOLATE  BEANS,  IK 
PODS  ON  TREES,  ECUADOR. 


ECUADOR 


and  are  embedded  in  the  pulp  of  the  melon-like  fruit,  which 
grows  on  good-sized  trees.  The  oval-shaped  fruit  varies  in 
color  from  yellow  and  brown  to  red  and  purple.  A  tree  may 
bear  fruit,  flower  and  blossom  at  the  same  time.  Cacao  can 
be  profitably  grown  on  only  a  comparatively  small  area  of  the 
world's  surface,  twenty  degrees  north  and  south  of  the  equa- 
tor. A  large  part  of  the  cacao  of  commerce  is  the  product  of 
cultivated  trees. 

In  Ecuador  I  observed  that  the  young  trees  were  shaded 
by  banana  plants  and,  whenever  possible,  were  grown  on  the 
hillsides,  as  drainage  is  an  important  feature.  A  cacao  tree 
produces  usually  in  three  years,  and  in  five  years  yields  from 
one  to  two  pounds  of  beans.  As  it  grows  older  and  larger  its 
yield  is,  of  course,  greater. 

The  gatherer  severs  the  fruit  from  the  tree  by  means  of  a 
pruning- shaped  knife  attached  to  a  long  pole,  and  allows  the 
pods  to  remain  on  the  ground  for  a  day  or  two.  The  pulp  is 
then  removed  from  the  beans.  On  the  up-to-date  plantations 
of  Ecuador  modern  machinery  is  used  for  this  part  of  the 
work,  but  simple  primitive  methods  are  more  often  in  vogue. 
The  beans  are  sun-dried  on  stone  patios  and  turned  often 
that  they  may  dry  evenly.  Lacking  a  patio,  the  native  spreads 
his  beans  out  on  the 
ground  in  front  of  his 
hut,  and  even  makes  use 
of  the  village  street. 

Until  the  present  time 
Ecuador  has  been  fairly 
free  from  the  scourge 
which  has  attacked  the 
cacao  groves  of  several 
other  countries  of  the 
world.  Its  trees  seem 
of  a  hardier  variety. 

The  traveler  who 
walks  along  Guayaquil's 
crowded  water-front 
learns  at  first  hand  the 
importance  of  this  in- 

TAGUA    NUTS,   OR  VEGETABLE   IVORY, 
THE  UNPICKED  PODS,  ECUADOR. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


SCENE  ON  A  TAGUA  PLANTATION,  ECUADOR. 
NUTS  IN  SACKS. 


PLACING  THE  IVORY 


dustry,  which  amounted  to  $8,000,000  in  1911,  four-sevenths 
of  the  total  value  of  the  exports.  Every  other  building  seems 
to  be  a  warehouse,  piled  high  with  cacao  bags.  Great  numbers 
of  lighters,  laden  with  this  product,  ply  between  the  shore  and 
ships  in  the  great  harbor,  the  departure  of  the  seeds  of  the 
cacao  trees  of  the  Land  of  the  Equator  to  fill  cups  with  choc- 
olate in  the  far  countries  of  the  world. 

I  thought  that  I  still  reflected  the  brilliant  green  absorbed 
from  the  verdant  shores  of  the  Guayas,  when  I  first  landed  in 
Guayaquil;  for  one  of  the  first  remarks  made  by  the  Ameri- 
can consul  seemed  to  stamp  this  condition  as  evident. 

"How  is  business?"  I  asked. 

"Well,"  he  replied,  "only  fair.  The  cacao  harvest  is  aver- 
age, but  the  button  crop  is  practically  a  failure!" 

"The  button  crop!"  I  thought  I  was  being  "joshed." 
Surely  my  letter  of  introduction  deserved  better  treatment 
from  the  consul.  Though  I  might  reflect  the  green  of  the 


ECUADOR 


73 


tropics,   I  was  hardly  "tenderfoot"  enough 
that. 

"Button  crop  a  failure?     Well,  that's  bad." 
regained  my  breath.    "Strange,  these  calamities ! 
at  Panama  the  heavy  rains 
ruined  the  macaroni  crop !"  I 
said. 

The  consul  looked  up 
oddly,  then  broke  into  a 
laugh.  "Oh,  I  see !"  he  said. 
"You  don't  understand.  But- 
tons, you  know — they're  our 
vegetable  ivory ;  tagua;  nuts 
from  a  palm  tree ;  from  the 
'inside  country.'  We  few 
English-speaking  people  call 
'em  'buttons'  because  they 
become,  eventually,  the  but- 
tons of  commerce." 

Well,  this  was  a  surprise ! 
In  my  youthful  days  I  had 
heard  much  of  "Button,  but- 
ton, who's  got  the  button  ?" 
but  I  never  dreamed  it  was  a 
palm  tree.  Still  the  consul 
was  right. 

The  clothes  of  the  world 
today  are  buttoned  with 
ivory  nuts,  and  Ecuador  is 
the  leading  producer.  Her 
tagua  crop  in  1911  was 
valued  at  $1,700,000,  ranking 
next  to  her  cacao. 

The  palm  which  produces 
the  ivory  nuts  is  found  on 
the  Pacific  coast  of  Ecuador 
and  Colombia,  in  Panama 
and  in  Central  America.  It 
grows  from  ten  to  twenty 


for  a  joke  like 


I  now  had 
Up  the  coast 


sb  «r 

eS 


o  w 

< 

H 

W 


74  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

feet  in  height,  and  at  the  base  of  the  leaves  bears  a  cluster  of 
nuts  resembling  cocoanuts.  Each  nut  contains  seeds  about 
the  size  of  small  potatoes,  fine-grained  and  approximating  real 
ivory  in  all  characteristics. 

The  ease  with  which  this  vegetable  ivory  can  be  shaped 
by  machinery,  and  its  quality  of  absorbing  and  retaining  dyes 
of  any  color,  make  it  ideal  material  for  the  manufacture  of 
buttons.  It  is  also  made  into  umbrella  handles,  chessmen,  and 
poker  chips. 

Tagua  is  shipped  to  the  United  States,  Germany,  France, 
Italy,  and  England.  The  taguaros  who  gather  the  nuts  are, 
as  a  rule,  very  poor,  and  it  is  necessary  for  the  Guayaquil  and 
Esmeraldas  merchants  to  advance  supplies  and  outfits  to  the 
gatherers  to  be  paid  for  when  the  crop  comes  in.  The  gather- 
ers work  in  parties  of  two,  "poling"  their  canoes  up  stream  for 
several  days  to  the  tagua  forests  on  the  public  lands.  Arriv- 
ing as  near  as  possible  to  the  forest,  a  camp  is  made  on  the 
river  shore,  a  rough  cabin  built  and  thatched  with  palm.  The 
preparation  for  work  begins  with  the  weaving  of  baskets,  each 
to  contain  two  hundred  pounds  of  nuts.  Sometimes  mules  are 
available,  but  usually  the  filled  baskets  are  borne  to  the  rivers 
on  the  backs  of  the  men. 

For  bringing  the  produce  down  stream  a  raft  of  cork-like 
balsa  wood  is  constructed.  Often  ten  tons  of  nuts  are  thus 
brought  down  to  market  on  a  single  raft.  Sometimes  the 
cargo  does  not  pay  the  expense  of  gathering,  for  bad  weather 
and  poor  prices  may  leave  the  taguaros  still  in  debt.  How- 
ever, in  the  long  run  they  make  a  little  money.  They  do  not 
expect  much. 

Some  time  ago,  when  war  with  Peru  seemed  imminent,  the 
Government  of  Ecuador  doubled  the  export  tax  on  tagua  and 
drafted  the  taguaros  into  the  army,  causing  a  partial  paralysis 
of  the  industry.  The  world  for  a  time  was  short  on  buttons, 
but  luckily  mankind  had  safety  pins ! 

The  most  of  the  so-called  "Panama  hats"  of  commerce  are 
woven  in  southern  Ecuador.  Guayaquil  is  the  great  empo- 
rium and  distributing  center  of  the  Panama  hat  industry  of  the 
world.  This  is  the  sole  manufactured  product  exported  from 
the  republic.  Think  of  that ! 


76  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

In  Latin  America,  these  hats  are  not  known  as  "Panamas," 
but  as  "Jipijapas,"  in  honor  of  the  Ecuadorian  village  of  Jipi- 
japa,  where  the  first  of  the  hats  are  said  to  have  been  woven. 

The  high  price  of  the  "Panama"  in  foreign  countries  is 
due  to  import  duties.  On  his  native  heath  the  peasant  wears 
a  hat  which  any  American  millionaire  might  envy. 

The  material  used  is  not  a  grass  or  reed,  as  is  sometimes 
stated,  but  toquilla  straw,  the  fiber  of  a  palm  (carludovica  pal- 
mata)  native  of  Ecuador,  Peru,  and  Colombia.  The  shrub  is 
fan-shaped  and  attains  a  height  of  some  five  feet.  It  is  cut 
just  before  it  ripens,  immersed  in  boiling  water  and  sun-dried. 
The  leaf  is  then  split  in  shreds  for  weaving,  and  must  be  kept 
damp  during  the  process.  "All  Panama  hats  are  woven  under 
water  and  by  moonlight,"  a  Chicago  woman  once  announced 
to  me,  and  she  believed  it.  True,  the  straw  must  be  kept  damp, 
and  weavers  often  work  in  the  early  morning  and  the  cool  of 
the  evening,  but  the  submerged  moonlight  story  is  more  pic- 
turesque than  authentic. 

Greater  whiteness  of  straw  may  be  obtained  by  boiling  the 
palm  in  water  containing  lemon  juice.  In  the  finer  grades  a 
fiber  as  delicate  as  linen  thread  is  used,  and  the  weavers  are 
quite  as  skilful  as  the  world's  rarest  lace-makers.  Children, 
both  boys  and  girls,  learn  the  art  from  their  parents,  and  skill 
evolves  with  each  generation.  The  finest  Panama  hat  ever 
made  was  sent  to  the  late  King  of  England.  It  was  so  exqui- 
sitely woven  that  it  could  be  folded  into  a  package  little  larger 
than  a  watch.  In  Ecuador,  cavalleros  carry  folded  hats  in 
their  pockets  without  the  slightest  injury,  so  soft  and  silky, 
yet  durable,  is  the  straw. 

The  province  of  Manabi,  bordering  the  Atlantic,  is  the 
greatest  producer  of  toquilla  straw,  and  here  are  the  towns  of 
Montecristi,  Santa  Ana  and  Jipijapa,  the  heart  of  the  Panama 
industry.  One  and  a  quarter  million  dollars'  worth  of  hats 
were  sent  out  of  Ecuador  in  1911,  and  fifty  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  straw  was  exported  to  neighboring  countries.  Much 
of  this  went  to  Peru. 

In  Peru  the  toquilla  grows  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Andes  and  the  weavers  live  on  the  desert  coast.  They  import 
the  straw  from  Ecuador,  rather  than  bring  it  from  far  over  the 


ECUADOR 


77 


mountains.  Catacaos,  in  northern  Peru,  is  the  best  known 
Peruvian  hat  town,  and  its  narrow  old  streets  are  often 
thronged  with  peasants  and  buyers,  when  the  middlemen  come 
to  barter  with  the  natives. 

The  Republic  of  Panama,  taking  advantage  of  the  name 
given  to  the  hats  when  they,  long  ago,  passed  through  the 
Isthmian  port,  now  buys  straw  from  Ecuador  and  brings 
teachers  with  it  to  instruct  the  Panamanians  in  the  art  of  weav- 
ing. A  few  of  the  Panama  hats  of  commerce  do  come  out  of 
Panama,  but  Ecuador  is  the  great  producing  center  for  this 
sort  of  headgear. 

I  have  before  me,  as  I  write,  the  shrunken  head  of  an  Ecua- 
dorian savage,  one  of  those  uncanny,  mummified  relics  from 
far  beyond  the  Andes — the 
wild  forest  land  of  the 
Upper  Amazon. 

The  Jivaros,  a  brave, 
freedom-loving  tribe  of  the 
eastern  tropic  wilds  of 
Ecuador,  who  have  never 
been  really  conquered,  thus 
preserve  the  scalp  of  the 
enemy,  removing  it  in  one 
piece  from  the  neck  upward 
and  drying  it  with  hot 
stones  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  skin  retains  the 
features  of  the  victim,  al- 
though it  shrinks  to  about 
one- fourth  the  original  size. 
The  hair  and  eyelashes  re- 
main as  in  life.  These  In- 
dians are  enormously  proud 
of  their  ghastly  trophies, 
but  until  recent  years 
they  represented  only  the 
prowess  of  war.  Un- 
fortunately a  few  of  the 
heads  found  their  way  out 

STATUE  OF  GENERAL  BOLIVAR. 
GUAYAQUIL,  ECUADOR. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


to  civilization 
high  price 
o  r  s  for 
When  I  was 
an  En  gl  i  s  h 
paid  one 
lars  each  for 
which  had 
to  the  port  by 
planter.  The 
had  bought 
semi-civilized 
Indian  had 
them  with  a 
you  see,  in 
varos  have 
that  enemies 
uable  than 
now  against 
Ecuador  t  o 
heads  but  A  SHRUNKEN  HEAD,  TROPHY  OF 


THE  HEAD  HUNTERS,  BROUGHT 
FROM   INTERIOR  ECUADOR. 


and  brought  a 
from  collect- 
m  u  s  e  u  m  s. 
in  Guayaquil 
gen  1 1  e  m  a  n 
hundred  dol- 
two  heads, 
been  shipped 
a  rubber 
rubber  planter 
them  from  a 
Indian ;  the 
bartered  for 
savage.  Thus, 
time  the  Ji- 
come  to  know 
are  more  val- 
f  riends.  It  is 
the  law  of 
sell  these 
they  are  sur- 
o  ff  e  r  e  d  to 
It  is  an  in- 
sho  ul d  be 


reptitio  u  s  1  y 
every  traveler, 
dustry  which 

suppressed.  A  savage  is  only  a  savage,  but  the  Jivaro  would 
better  learn  to  plant  rubber  and  weave  hats.  Here  is  a  great 
field  for  some  practical  missionary!  Who  will  take  the  job? 
Though  political  cabals  and  internal  strife  have  been  the 
curse  of  Ecuador,  in  time  the  country  will,  no  doubt,  reach 
a  firm  and  stable  condition  of  society  and  government.  The 
natural  resources  of  the  country  are  very  great.  In  rubber, 
sugar-cane,  beautiful  and  precious  woods  of  every  sort,  tropi- 
cal fruits  of  every  variety,  and  in  many  other  resources,  this 
equatorial  land  is  rich.  American  enterprise  is  now  entering 
Ecuador,  and  the  future  promises  better  things  for  this 
country. 


PERU 

Area,  696,000  square  miles,  or  about  three  and  one-half  times 
that  of  France,  or  twenty-one  times  as  large  as  the  State  of 
Maine — Population,  approximately  4,000,000,  a  little  more 
than  half  Indian,  estimated — Vast  deposits  of  silver  and 
copper,  also  some  gold,  coal  and  petroleum — Sugar  and 
rubber  important  products — Exports  from  Peru  into 
United  States  in  ion,  $5,597,123,  imports  into  Peru  from 
United  States  in  ion,  $9,314,030 — Army,  peace  footing, 
4,000 — Capital,  Lima,  population,  140,000. 

CHAPTER  V. 
PRESENT  AND  ANCIENT  PERU. 

LEAVING  moisture-soaked  Guayaquil  behind  us  we  again 
sailed  southward.  The  transition  from  humidity  to 
aridity  is  swift  and  surprising.  One  leaves  Guayaquil,  perhaps, 
in  a  torrential  downpour  of  rain  at  midday,  and  by  midnight  is 
sailing  across  a  point  opposite  the  divisional  line  between 
Ecuador  and  Peru,  where  actual  rain  has  probably  never  been 
seen  to  fall,  and  where  no  tillage  of  the  earth  is  possible  save  by 
the  aid  of  irrigation.  Tilling  the  soil  in  the  damp  region  back 
of  Guayaquil  is  literally,  though  honorably,  a  business  of 
"muck-raking,"  while  along  the  coast  of  Peru  husbandry  is  a 
matter  of  constantly  "laying  the  dust." 

One  explanation  of  this  marked  dissimilarity  of  climatic 
conditions  is  that  the  cold  ocean  current  from  the  Antarctic 
region,  which  bathes  the  whole  South  American  western  coast,  at 
this  point,  and  for  more  than  four  thousand  miles  southward, 
presses  in  closer  to  the  shore  and  chills  the  upper  atmosphere  to 
such  a  degree  as  to  prohibit  the  formation  of  moisture.  How- 
ever, my  own  conclusions  are  that  the  phenomenon  can  be  attri- 
buted to  a  seemingly  more  obvious  cause.  I  observed  that  the 
winds  blow  almost  constantly  from  the  east.  It  is  probable  then 
that  the  atmosphere  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  becoming  filled 
with  moisture  and  moving  westward  across  the  vast  warm  slope 

79 


8o 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


ON  THE  COAST  WHERE  THE  SAND  DRIFTS. 

of  eastern  South  America,  precipitates  its  burden  of  rain  as  it 
proceeds.  As  the  air  currents  draw  westward  over  the  mighty 
barrier  of  the  Andes  Mountains  the  last  of  the  moisture  is 
drawn  from  the  atmosphere  in  the  form  of  snow,  and  the 
winds  come  down  across  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  literally 
"sucked  dry."  This  seems  to  me,  at  least,  the  most  probable 
reason. 

Whatever  the  true  explanation,  the  fact  remains  that  the 
whole  coast  of  Peru  is  pitiably  devoid  of  moisture.  It  would  be 
an  actual  desert  except  for  the  snow-water  streams  that  flow 
down  from  the  Andes  Mountains,  which  are  twenty  to  two  hun- 
dred miles  distant  from  the  shore.  The  houses  of  the 
people  in  the  little  towns  along  this  endless,  wavering  ribbon  of 
desert  are  for  the  most  part  constructed  of  bamboo  lath  and 
plastered  with  mud.  Should  the  mud  drop  off  it  matters  little, 
but  for  the  fact  that  this  permits  more  sand  to  blow  in.  Sand 
is  the  nightmare  of  the  lives  of  these  people,  for  it  is  every- 
where, shifting  and  drifting  in  every  breeze  like  fine  snow, 


A    HIGH    PLATEAU   VILLAGE,    WHERE    STREAMS    START. 


PERU 


Si 


piling  up  in  one  spot  today  and  shifting  to  another  spot  tomor- 
row, upon  the  wings  of  another  breeze. 

Payta,  Peru,  five  hundred  miles  south  of  Guayaquil,  was 
my  next  stop.  As  we  approached  the  port,  the  first  object  to 
greet  the  gaze  was  a  large  cross,  erected  on  a  bluff  that  extends 
out  into  the  ocean  south  of  the  city.  We  were  told  that  it  was 
placed  there  by  the  Church  to  drive  away  evil  spirits,  but  it  is 
more  probable  that  it  was  erected  as  a  beacon  for  the  guidance 
of  ships  at  sea. 


A  GROUP   OF   PANAMA   HAT   WEAVERS. 

Payta  is  the  first  port  of  Peru  as  one  approaches  from  the 
north.  It  is  also  the  greatest  Panama  hat  market  in  Peru,  and 
during  our  stay  in  this  port  possibly  fifty  peddlers  came  aboard 
the  ship  with  sacks  of  hats.  The  first  price  asked  was  about 
equal  to  the  retail  price  charged  for  a  hat  of  the  same  grade 
in  the  United  States.  But  it  is  doubtful  if  they  made  any  sales 
at  those  figures,  for  people  who  travel  much  learn  the  value  of 
"dickering"  with  merchants  of  this  class  and  seem  to  take  de- 
light in  the  operation.  If  the  prospective  customer  is  keen 
enough  in  driving  a  bargain  he  can  usually  get  a  hat  for  about 
6 


82 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


one-third  the  original  price  asked. 
I  saw  some  good  hats  sell  as  low  as 
$2.50  each. 

We  remained  in  Payta  about  six 
hours,  taking  aboard  and  discharg- 
ing much  cargo,  during  which  time 
officialdom  was  very  much  in  evi- 
dence. The  port  officers  and  quar- 
antine inspectors,  clad  in  gorgeous 
uniforms,  went  about  their  duties 
with  impressive  ceremonies,  which 
were  at  last  brought  to  an  end,  and 
the  steamer  weighed  anchor  and 
sailed  away  toward  the  south. 

Between  Payta  and  Callao  there 
are  three  ports  at  which  we  called — 
Eten,    Pacasmayo    and    Salaverry. 
At  each  one  a  long  iron  pier  reaches 
out   into  the  ocean,   one  of   them 
being  2,700  feet  long,  but  as  the 
water  is  shallow  our  steamer  an- 
chored out  half  a  mile  from  the  end 
of  the  pier.     As  the  surf  rolled  the 
boats  so  that  it  was  dangerous  for 
passengers  to  leave  the  steamer  by 
the  ladder,  they  were  taken  off  in 
iron  cages,  which  were  swung  out 
over  the  waiting  boat  by  a  crane.  * 
These    towns    all    looked    alike, 
nothing  but  low  iron-roofed  build- 
ings, set  in  a  waste  of  sand.     But 
at  each  town  a  railroad  starts  and 
runs  back  into  the  desert  to  good 
towns  on  the  streams  that  head  up 
in  the  mountains,  which  disappear 
in  their  course,  all  of  the  water 
being  used  for  irrigation  purposes 
before   it   reaches   the   sea.     Thus 
the  size  of  the  rivers  is  reversed, 


PERU 


the    big    end    being    at    the 
source. 

From    Salaverry  to   Callao 
we  sailed  along  a  rugged,  dry 
coast  upon  which  one  would 
die   of   hunger   and   thirst   if 
shipwrecked.      At  Callao  we 
parted    company    with    many 
interesting  persons  met  dur- 
ing the  voyage,  most  of  them 
being  American   mining  men 
and  mining  engineers  on  their 
way   to   work   on   enterprises 
financed  by  American  capital- 
ists.    Four  young  men  were 
going  from  the  United  States 
to  Chile  to  work  at  a  copper 
smelter.    One  of  them  wanted 
to  know  if  Chile  was  a  mon- 
archy!     From   such   illustra- 
tions of   ignorance  it  is  evi- 
dent that  more  books  should 
be  written  on  South  America. 
One  of  the  first  interesting 
facts     that     presented     itself 
after    our    arrival    at    Callao 
was  that  this  region  is  in  the 
earthquake    belt.      Callao    it- 
self, which  is  situated  seven 
miles  from  Lima,  has  been  re- 
built several  miles  away  from 
its  original   site.     The   entire 
town   disappeared   during   an 
earthquake    some    years    ago, 
trie   ocean   sweeping   in   over 
where  it  had  stood.     The  har- 
bor, one  of  the  best  on   the 
Pacific  coast,  is  over  the  site 
of  the  old  city  of  Callao. 


84 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


VIEW  IN  THE  HARBOR  OF  CALLAO,  PERU. 

The  new  buildings  of  Lima  are  now  being  constructed  of 
steel  and  concrete,  the  same  as  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  and  are 
in  marked  contrast  to  the  other  buildings,  which  are  low  and 
fragile.  Slight  shocks  of  earthquakes  are  common,  and  upon  a 
morning  directly  after  my  arrival  the  toilet  articles  on  my 
dresser  danced  a  merry  jig  from  a  "quake." 

Lima,  to  a  North  American,  is  especially  interesting,  as* it 
was  the  real  seat  of  Spanish  Government  on  the  American  con- 
tinent, North  and  South,  for  nearly  three  hundred  years. 
Pizarro,  after  overpowering  and  robbing  the  Incas,  built  Lima 
in  1535,  and  it  remained  the  Spanish  capital  of  South  America 
until  1825.  Peru  was  the  last  country  in  South  America  to 
become  a  republic.  It  has  the  oldest  university  in  the  Western 
Hemisphere,  I  believe,  and  the  oldest  and  most  celebrated 
monasteries.  The  inquisition  tortures  were  practiced  here,  on 
religious  and  political  prisoners,  for  a  century  after  public 
sentiment  forced  Spain  and  our  New  England  colonies  to 
methods  of  greater  tolerance. 


PERU  85 

The  Peruvians  are  a  very  brave  and  proud  people,  and  in 
Lima  are  to  be  found  descendants  of  much  of  the  best  blood  of 
Spain.  The  Peruvians  have  been  overcome  in  wars,  but  never 
conquered.  Obviously  there  must  be  immense  wealth  back  of 
the  people  of  Lima  to  enable  them  to  recover  so  quickly  after 
the  injuries  sustained  in  their  disastrous  war  with  Chile,  when 
nearly  every  home  was  left  a  ruin,  and  parks  and  public  build- 
ings were  destroyed.  Today  there  is  no  evidence  of  this  terri- 
ble conflict ;  in  fact,  Lima  is  quite  a  new,  up-to-date  city.  The 
wars  have  done  for  it  what  the  great  Chicago  fire  did  for 
that  city — made  possible  the  replacing  of  old  buildings  with  new 
and  modern  structures,  and  gave  the  city  enterprise  and  brought 
it  capital.  The  population  of  Lima  is  140,000.  It  lies  seven 
miles  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  is  five  hundred  feet  above 
sea  level. 

While  I  was  in  Lima  the  season  was  that  which  citizens 
of  the  United  States  would  designate  as  "dog  days,"  the  hottest 
period  of  summer.  Still,  though  Lima  is  but  eight  hundred 
miles  south  of  the  equator,  it  was  cool  enough  at  night  to  sleep 
under  sheet  and  blanket.  There  the  thermometer  never  goes 
above  90  degrees  in  the  daytime,  and  sunstrokes  are  unknown. 
The  streets  are  well  paved,  and  being  narrow,  create  a  natural 


THE  CITY  HALL,  LIMA,   PERU. 


PERU  87 

draft  like  a  tunnel,  and  as  the  buildings  are  set  close  together, 
making  a  welcome  shade,  the  pedestrian  is  never  overheated  as 
in  some  of  our  large  cities.  In  the  center  of  each  house  there 
is  a  large  court  or  patio,  filled  with  flowers,  plants,  ferns  and 
palms  so  common  to  all  Spanish  and  tropical  countries.  Here 
the  family  lives  as  privately  as  if  it  were  not  in  the  heart  of  the 
city.  This  is  a  common  style  of  architecture,  and  the  houses 
of  the  better  class  in  the  country  are  constructed  in  the  same 
way. 

The  Rimac  River  irrigates  a  great  valley,  and  on  this,  the 
greatest  river  of  the  dry  coast  of  the  South  Pacific  Ocean, 
the  city  of  Lima  is  located.  The  high  falls  of  the  Rimac  furnish 
abundant  power  for  electric  railroads  and  manufacturing  plants, 
and  the  streets  of  the  city  are  well  lighted  at  night  by  electricity, 
while  all  the  houses  are  wired  and  are  illuminated  in  the  same 
manner,  as  the  current  is  furnished  very  cheap.  There  are 
many  little  parks  and  public  squares,  adorned  with  statuary,  in 
addition  to  the  larger  parks,  in  which  the  people  take  great 
pride,  gathering  there  in  the  evenings  and  holidays  for  recrea- 
tion. 


TOMB   OF    FRANCISCO    PIZARRO,    IN    THE    CHAPEL   OF   THE   VIRGIN 
IN   THE   CATHEDRAL,   LIMA,   PERU. 


88 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


It  was  in  one  of  these  parks,  a  few  years  ago,  that  a  mob — 
dignified  in  South  American  countries  by  the  name  of  revolu- 
tionary party — took  President  Leguia,  an  honest  and  brave  ex- 
ecutive, after  murdering  his  guard,  and,  placing  him  with  his 
back  to  the  statue  of  Bolivar,  the  Liberator,  ordered  him  to  sign 
a  paper  turning  over  the  army  and  navy  of  Peru  to  the  mob. 

They  re-enforced  their  arguments  with  revolvers  pressed 
against  the  President's  body,  and  declared  they  would  kill  him 
if  he  declined  to  sign  the  paper.  He  replied  that  he  could  die 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  CATHEDRAL,  LIMA,  PERU. 


but  once,  but  Peru  must  live,  and  his  death  would  be  avenged. 
Fortunately,  just  then  a  squad  of  soldiers  came  along,  and  the 
commander,  imagining  the  trouble  was  some  sort  of  a  street 
brawl,  ordered  the  crowd  to  disperse;  as  the  mob  showed  no 
signs  of  obeying  he  fired  into  it,  little  dreaming  that  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  nation  was  being  exposed  to  danger  of  death  at  the 
hands  of  his  friends.  In  the  scramble  of  the  mob  to  escape 
being  shot,  the  President  fell  under  a  man  who  was  shot  dead, 


PERU 


89 


and  this,  no  doubt,  saved  his  life.   The  young  commander  is  now 

a  hero  and  has  been  promoted.    President  Leguia  refused  to  ex- 

ecute any  of   the  men  engaged  in  this  "revolution,"  though 

many  of  them  were  sent  to  prison.     I  fancy  that  we  of  the 

United  States  would  not  have  dealt  so  humanely  with  such  a 

"political  party."    Just  the  same,  no  matter  how  much  Peru- 

vians may  differ  on  home 

matters    of   govern  m  e  n  t, 

they  are  a  unit  the  moment 

their  country  is  assailed  by 

a  foreign  foe.  Their  loyalty 

to   their   country   is   above 

any     other     consideration, 

and  one  is  compelled  to  ad- 

mire them  for  it. 

There  are  many  evi- 
dences throughout  Peru  of 
a  prehistoric  race  that  pos- 
sessed a  high  degree  of 
civilization.  Ruins  of  tem- 
ples, houses  and  entire 
cities,  have  been  unearthed, 
and  the  discoveries  made 
are  mute  witnesses  to  the 
intelligence  and  thrift  of 
this  remote  people.  In 
their  burial  mounds  have 
been  found  pottery,  gold 
and  silver  vessels,  and  orna- 
ments of  rare  carving  and 
workmanship.  These  show 
that  culture  and  enlight- 
enment must  have  widely 
obtained  among  the  now 
obliterated  race,  while  the 
cotton  twine,  woven  cloth 
and  cobs  of  maize  un- 
earthed, denote  their  skill 
in  manufacture  and  practi- 
cal  husbandry. 


op  DEATH  m 

CHURCH    OF    SAN    AUGUSTIN, 
LIMA,  PERU. 


go  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Some  students  of  ancient  Peru  believe  that  there  was  em- 
igration from  China  to  this  country  thousands  of  years  ago,  the 
unearthed  ruins  bearing  resemblance  to  the  early  Buddhist  tem- 
ples in  Mongolia,  while  even  today,  some  of  the  coast  natives 
look  like  the  Chinese  and  are  able  to  understand  the  Chinese 
tongue. 

However,  other  antiquarians  have  advanced  the  theory  that 
the  very  earliest  occupants  of  Peru  were  a  blonde  people,  the 
settlement  having  been  a  colony  from  Plato's  mythical  con- 
tinent, Atlantis,  which  sank  into  the  sea  before  man  had  a  writ- 
ten history.  However  that  may  be,  the  mighty  nation  of  the 
Incas,  now  the  degenerated  Indians  of  Peru,  is  supposed  to 
have  come  originally  from  the  regions  about  the  Amazon  River. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  map  of  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  made  through  deep  sea  soundings  by  the  American 
and  British  Governments,  shows  a  vast  submerged  plateau 
toward  the  eastern  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  that  there  are  two 
submerged  ridges  connecting  this  plateau  with  Europe,  and  an- 
other ridge  connecting  the  plateau  with  South  America,  just 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  River. 

This  seems  to  agree  with  Plato's  description  of  the  sup- 
posedly fabled  continent  of  Atlantis,  which  sank  into  the  sea  in 
a  convulsion  of  nature,  the  submergence  of  which  gave  rise  to 
the  fabulous  story  of  the  destruction  of  the  prehistoric  world 
by  a  deluge.  The  theory,  then,  that  the  prehistoric  peoples  of 
South  America  had  their  origin  through  emigration  from 
Atlantis,  by  way  of  a  ridge  of  land  that  joined  Atlantis  to  South 
America  near  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon,  seems  not  altogether 
impossible,  though  the  truth,  of  course,  can  never  be  fully 
known. 

The  history  of  Peru  is  so  dramatic  and  extraordinary  that  I 
fancy  the  reader  would  be  entertained  by  a  few  words  relative 
to  its  principal  events. 

About  the  year  1000  there  were  several  tribes  of  Indians 
inhabiting  the  high  plateau  about  Cuzco,  the  old  Inca  capital, 
and  from  one  of  those  tribes  a  great  leader  arose,  named  Manco 
Capac,  who  claimed  descent  from  the  Sun  God.  The  word 
Inca  means  "lord,"  and  Manco  Capac  was  the  first  Inca  chief, 


PERU  91 

his  direct  descendants  ruling  the  vast  Inca  domains  until  the 
Spanish  conquest. 

Today  Peru  is  profiting  from  the  great  things  the  Incas  did 
with  the  crudest  sort  of  tools.  They  drilled  with  drills  made 
of  pure  copper,  having  a  method  of  tempering  the  metal  until 
it  was  as  hard  as  steel,  a  method  that  is  unknown  today,  being 
numbered  with  the  lost  arts.  They  built  miles  of  military 
roads,  reservoirs,  canals,  and  irrigating  ditches.  Whole  moun- 
tainsides were  terraced  up  and  land  made  over  these  terraces, 
which  apparently  must  have  consumed  years  of  labor.  There 
was  no  leisure  class  in  those  days,  every  one  being  obliged  to 
work,  and  the  products  were  divided  between  the  Government, 
the  priests  and  the  people.  If  there  was  a  scarcity  in  one  sec- 


IN   THE  GARDEN  OF  THE   MONASTERY  OF   SAN   FRANCISCO, 
LIMA,   PERU. 


PERU  93 

tion  of  the  country  it  was  made  up  by  drawing  on  Government 
storehouses  in  a  richer  section. 

The  wealth  of  the  Incas  was  enormous,  and  they  had 
numerous  rich  gold,  silver  and  copper  mines,  which  they  worked 
in  the  crudest  manner.  Among  these  mines  was  the  famous 
Cerro  de  Pasco,  which  lies  in  the  heart  of  the  Andes  Moun- 
tains, 14,000  feet  above  sea  level.  The  Incas  were  splendid 
fighters,  and  they  conquered  the  Indian  tribes  of  what  are  now 
Peru,  northern  Chile,  northwestern  Argentina,  Bolivia  and 
Ecuador.  Thus  in  time  the  Inca  Emperor  controlled  a  vast 
area  and  was  monarch  of  over  2,000,000  hard-working  people. 

Their  temples  to  the  Sun  God,  and  the  palaces  of  the  Inca 
Emperor,  were  built  of  great  stones,  so  cut  as  to  fit  evenly  one 
upon  the  other,  and  the  inside  walls  were  treasure  houses  of 
gold  and  silver  ornaments  and  decorations  of  precious  stones, 
and,  it  is  said,  they  ate  from  gold  plates. 

Atahualpa  was  the  last  Emperor  of  the  Incas.  During  the 
early  part  of  his  reign  he  was  constantly  at  war  with  his  broth- 
er, Huascar,  who  tried  to  usurp  the  throne.  But  Atahualpa, 
with  his  enormous  resources  and  an  army  of  70,000  men, 
proved  too  much  for  the  traitorous  brother,  and  after  several 
battles  succeeded  in  completely  wiping  out  of  existence  the 
rebel  and  his  band  of  followers.  At  this  time  the  Inca  empire 
was  at  the  acme  of  its  glory,  and  it  included  all  of  the  habitable 
parts  of  Ecuador,  Peru  and  Bolivia,  three-fourths  of  Chile,  and 
a  large  part  of  Argentina,  stretching  2,200  miles  north  and 
south,  and  from  the  Pacific  to  the  eastern  foot  of  the  Andes 
Mountains.  Having  conquered  the  entire  country  about  them, 
and  feeling  secure  in  their  empire,  like  many  another  nation  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  they  relaxed  in  precaution  and  gave 
themselves  up  to  the  enjoyment  of  life. 

In  1532  word  was  brought  to  Atahualpa  that  a  company  of 
two  hundred  strangers,  having  white  faces  on  which  hair  grew, 
and  riding  on  strange  animals,  had  landed  on  the  coast  at 
Tumbez,  on  the  Gulf  of  Guayaquil.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Spanish  invasion  under  the  famous  adventurer,  Pizarro, 
who  had  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  with  Balboa  some 
years  before  and  had  heard  stories  of  the  great  treasures  in  the 
land  to  the  south.  He  reached  what  is  now  Peru,  saw  for 


94 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


STATUE  OF  GENERAL  BOLIVAR,   LIMA,   PERU. 


himself  the  wealth  of  the  country,  and  decided  to  go  to  Spain 
and  interest  the  Government  in  fitting  out  an  expedition  to  con- 
quer and  loot  the  kingdom  of  the  Incas.  He  had  an  audience 
with  the  King  of  Spain,  who  authorized  him  to  conquer  and 
settle  Peru  for  Spain  and  gave  him  money  to  fit  out  an  expedi- 
tion. Pizarro,  on  his  part,  was  to  remit  to  the  royal  treasury 
one-fifth  of  the  gold  he  would  get  in  Peru. 

It  was  Pizarro,  with  his  two  hundred  fighting  adventurers 
and  horses,  of  whom  the  Inca  Emperor  had  heard,  and  he  sent 
a  friendly  message  to  Pizarro,  asking  the  privilege  of  visiting 
the  Spaniard's  camp  outside  of  Cajamarca.  Pizarro  willingly 
granted  the  request,  for  he  had  formed  a  daring  plan  to  capture 
and  make  a  prisoner  of  the  Inca  Emperor  in  his  own  camp. 
Atahualpa,  not  suspecting  treachery,  left  his  camp  and  was 
borne  on  a  litter  into  the  town  of  Cajamarca,  surrounded  by 
only  a  few  of  his  soldiers.  Through  an  interpreter  Pizarro 
demanded  that  the  Inca  Emperor  should  become  a  subject  of 
the  King  of  Spain  and  join  the  Catholic  Church.  This  the 
Emperor  haughtily  refused  to  do,  whereupon  a  priest  who 


PERU 


95 


accompanied  Pizarro  called  out,  "Fall  on,  Christians!     I  ab- 
solve you !" 

Then  followed  one  of  the  world's  greatest  tragedies.  The 
Spaniards  slaughtered  the  Inca's  bodyguard,  for  the  latter  could 
do  nothing  against  the  coats  of  mail  worn  by  the  Spaniards.  The 
Emperor  was  dragged  from  his  litter  and  made  a  prisoner, 
being  held  as  a  hostage  in  a  large  room,  which  was  closely 
guarded.  One  day  he  sent  for  Pizarro  and  said :  "I  will  fill  this 
room  in  which  I  am  held  a  prisoner  with  gold  as  high  as  I  can 
reach,  if  you  will  let  me  go  free." 

Pizarro  agreed,  and  gold  was  brought  in  by  the  faithful  sub- 
jects of  Atahualpa  until  the  necessary  ransom  was  complete,  in 
all  amounting,  it  is  said,  to  about  $23,000,000  of  modern  money. 
One-fifth  of  this  huge  sum  was  sent  to  Spain  and  the  rest 

divided  among  Pizarro 
and  his  men,  and  even 
those  who  got  the 
smallest  part  were 
made  rich  for  life. 

Pizarro,  as  might 
have  been  expected — 
for  he  was  one  of  the 
greatest  thieves  of  all 
history — did  not  keep 
his  word  with  the  Inca 
Emperor,  and  instead 
of  freeing  him,  charged 
him  with  the  murder 
of  his  brother  and  had 
him  executed  on  the 
public  square  of  Caja- 
marca.  During  the 
confusion  that  resulted 
from  this  deed,  Pizarro 
marched  to  Cuzco,  cap- 
tured it,  and  having 
received  additional 
soldiers  in  the  mean- 
time, established  a  capi- 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  SENATE  BUILDING, 
LIMA,  PERU. 


PERU  97 

tal  in  the  Rimac  Valley  at  Lima.  The  Spaniards  quickly  con- 
quered the  various  Indian  tribes  throughout  the  Inca  empire, 
and  taking  possession  of  the  land,  divided  it  up  into  large 
estates,  compelling  the  Indians  to  pay  tribute  to  them. 

Thus  the  great  Inca  empire  fell,  and  the  Spanish  conquerors 
were  left  to  fight  among  themselves  for  the  rich  country  and 
spoils  they  had  gained,  and  fight  they  did,  each  captain  claiming 
more  territory  and  riches  than  the  concession  from  the  crown 
allowed  him.  As  a  result  there  was  almost  constant  warfare  in 
the  country.  Pizarro  had  established  himself  in  Lima,  where 
he  lived  in  great  luxury,  and  having  been  made  Governor,  he 
spent  a  considerable  sum  in  beautifying  the  city  and  enlarg- 
ing it. 

While  Pizarro's  soldiers  were  jealous  of  one  another's 
possessions,  and  his  captains. fought  among  themselves  over  the 
division  of  the  spoils,  some  of  his  generals  were  jealous  of  their 
leader's  power  and  wealth,  claiming  that  he  had  taken  more 
than  his  share.  Therefore,  one  night  when  Pizarro  was  eating 
his  dinner  in  his  palace,  surrounded  by  all  the  luxury  gold  could 
buy,  twenty  of  his  enemies  rushed  into  the  room  and  killed  him, 
though  he  fought  to  the  last  with  great  courage. 

A  royal  commissioner,  Vaca  de  Castro,  sent  to  Peru  by  the 
King  of  Spain,  arrived  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion  precipi- 
tated in  Lima  by  the  murder  of  Pizarro,  and  it  was  fortunate 
that  he  came  so  opportunely,  for,  having  a  commission  from  the 
King,  he  became  the  legal  ruler,  thus  terminating  the  inevitable 
fight  for  Pizarro's  mantle  among  those  who  had  murdered  him. 
The  guilty  ones  w-ere  executed  in  the  public  square  in  Lima. 

First  one,  then  another  of  the  old  bloodthirsty  adventurers 
who  had  been  with  Pizarro,  and  who  had  remained  loyal  to  him, 
were  appointed  Governor  by  the  King  of  Spain.  But  they  did 
not  send  home  as  much  gold  as  King  Charles  desired,  and 
finally  he  sent  to  Peru  the  Marquis  of  Canete  to  govern,  with 
the  title  of  Viceroy. 

The  Spaniards  had  conquered  but  not  colonized  the  country, 
so  the  new  Viceroy  brought  with  him  a  large  household  and 
staff.  Under  his  rule  churches,  convents,  and  monasteries  were 
built,  and  today  they  are  most  interesting  and  beautiful  build- 
ings. Among  the  Viceroy's  entourage  were  a  large  number  of 
7 


98  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

beautiful  Spanish  nuns,  one  of  whom  was  a  young  girl  of  nine- 
teen, said  to  be  the  most  beautiful  of  all.  Her  life  story  is 
very  sad. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen,  so  the  chronicle  runs,  she  had  a 
lover  who  was  a  poor  young  man.  As  neither  of  them  had 
any  money,  the  young  man  decided  to  go  to  Peru  to  gain  a  for- 
tune in  the  new  country.  Nearly  two  years  passed  without 
tidings  of  him,  and  then,  growing  impatient,  she  decided  to  go 
to  Peru  herself  and  learn  the  reason  for  his  silence.  As  she 
had  no  money,  and  there  was  no  other  way  for  her  to  get  to 
Peru,  she  became  a  nun  and  joined  those  who  were  going  with 
the  Viceroy.  When  she  arrived  in  Lima  she  found  her  lover 
seriously  wounded  and  was  just  in  time  to  have  him  die  in  her 
arms.  It  is  said  that  she  devoted  her  life  to  nursing  the  sick, 
in  which  work  she  was  so  happy  and  contented  that  the  expres- 
sion of  her  face  became  as  beautiful  as  the  Madonna's. 

A  succession  of  governors  and  captain-generals  was  sent 
out  from  Spain  in  the  years  that  followed,  and  vice-captain- 
generals  ruled  in  Argentina,  Venezuela,  Colombia,  Ecuador  and 
Bolivia,  whose  principal  duty  was  to  wring  money  from  the 
inhabitants  to  swell  the  treasury  of  Spain.  Such  a  system  of 
extreme  tyranny  and  spoliation  as  was  this  old  Spanish  con- 
quest finds  hardly  a  parallel  in  human  history.  Finally  the  in- 
evitable storm  of  revolution  broke  out  all  over  South  America. 
This  was  in  1806,  and  in  rapid  succession  the  Spanish  officials 
were  overthrown  in  Argentina,  New  Granada,  Chile  and  Venq- 
zuela,  only  Peru  remaining  loyal  to  the  crown.  There  was 
constant  fighting  each  year,  General  Simon  Bolivar  being  the 
brilliant  leader  who  organized  the  campaigns  in  the  war  against 
Spanish  domination. 

In  1820  Bolivar  sent  one  of  his  lieutenants,  General  San 
Martin,  with  about  five  thousand  Argentinians  and  Chileans  to 
Peru,  to  wrest  the  country  from  the  Spaniards.  For  two  years 
there  was  constant  fighting,  and  in  1822  San  Martin  was  joined 
by  Bolivar,  with  his  numerous  well-trained  soldiers,  and  in  1825, 
after  many  great  battles,  Peru  was  wrested  from  the  Spanish 
crown  and  the  war  for  independence  was  over.  Only  Callao 
castle  at  Callao  held  out,  but  after  thirteen  months  it,  too,  gave 


ioo  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

up,  and  with  its  surrender  was  hauled  down  the  last  Spanish 
flag  on  the  South  American  mainland. 

The  Peruvians  made  Bolivar  President,  but  he  left  the 
country  to  go  to  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  of  which  he 
was  also  President.  Peru's  independence  began  without  any 
basis  for  a  strong,  stable  government.  The  interior,  inhabited 
by  Indians,  who  always  got  the  worst  of  it  no  matter  who  gov- 
erned them,  and  the  long  strip  of  coast  divided  by  local  jeal- 
ousies, created  a  condition  of  antagonisms  that  defeated  all 
efforts  to  form  a  compact  nation. 

The  only  thing  that  could  unite  the  Peruvians  was  war  with 
a  common  foe,  and  a  pretext  for  that  war  was  soon  found. 
Bolivar's  government  was  in  power  from  the  Caribbean  Sea  to 
Argentina,  and  he  expected  to  become  Emperor  of  all  South 
America.  But  the  Peruvians  had  grown  tired  of  being  gov- 
erned by  a  nonresident  President,  and  they  desired  very  much 
to  be  rid  of  Bolivar's  rule  and  of  the  soldiers  he  had  left  to 
keep  Peru  for  him. 

The  inhabitants  at  length  arose  in  revolt  and  for  several 
years  a  fierce  conflict  was  waged,  which  finally  ended  in  the 
defeat  of  Bolivar.  Thus,  being  rid  of  the  common  foe,  the  in- 
ternal strife  of  Peru  began  again,  and  the  country  was  in  a  con- 
stant state  of  revolution.  A  President  would  be  elevated  to 
power,  and  in  a  few  weeks  he  would  be  deposed  and  another 
put  in  his  place.  Sometimes  the  change  in  Presidents  would 
occur  peacefully,  but  more  often  with  much  bloodshed  and  dis- 
aster to  the  country.  Twenty  years  of  independence  brought 
Peru  no  nearer  to  a  stable  government,  and  the  situation 
seemed  to  grow  worse  year  after  year. 

There  arose  in  this  emergency  a  quiet  little  soldier,  Ramon 
Castilla,  who  had  fought  in  the  war  of  independence  and  the 
civil  wars,  but  always  on  the  side  most  partial  to  good  govern- 
ment. He  became  President  in  1845,  and  from  that  date  the 
Republic  of  Peru  began  to  thrive.  He  paid  his  soldiers  regu- 
larly, rewarded  his  friends,  relieved  agriculture  of  taxation, 
paid  interest  on  the  foreign  debt  Peru  had  made  during  the  war 
of  independence,  and  refunded  it  with  the  accrued  interest  that 
had  already  amounted  to  more  than  the  principal. 

Telegraphs  and  railways  were  constructed,  and  no  money 


PERU 


101 


was  wasted  on  a  useless  army  of  officeholders.  Castilla  utilized 
the  millions  of  dollars  coming  into  the  treasury  of  the  country 
from  the  big  guano  and  nitrate  deposits  in  useful  improve- 
ments, and  inexorably  insisted  that  every  cent  should  be  made 
to  count  for  the  good  of  his  country.  He  encouraged  foreign 
immigration,  and  Chinese  coolies  came  in  large  numbers,  also 
many  Europeans,  among  whom  were  seventy  Basque  peasants 
from  Spain,  some  of  whom  were  killed  in  a  row  on  a  plantation 
on  which  they  were  working.  Spain  demanded  an  apology  from 
Peru  and  $3,000,000  indemnity.  Peru  refused  both,  broke  off 
diplomatic  relations,  and  Spain  sent  a  big  fleet  which  seized 
the  valuable  Chincha  guano  islands.  A  treaty  of  alliance  was 
made  with  Chile,  war  was  declared  on  Spain,  and  the  batteries 
at  Callao,  the  seaport  of  Lima,  were  re-enforced  and  a  big  force 
of  volunteers  manned  the  guns.  When  the  Spanish  fleet  ar- 
rived in  1866  they  were  unable  to  make  a  landing,  and  their 

ships  were  so  badly  damaged 
that  they  gave  up  further  hos- 
tilities. 

Nitrate,  as  the  reader  doubt- 
less knows,  is  the  most  valuable 
of  all  fertilizers  of  the  soil. 
The  discovery  of  great  fields 
bearing  this  commodity  along 
the  seacoast  of  South  America 
has  been  the  basis  of  much 
strife  as  well  as  of  great 
wealth.  The  nitrate-bearing 
strip  along  the  coast  is  some 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
in  length.  Peru  owned  the 
northern  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  and  prior  to  1860,  Bolivia 
claimed  the  remainder.  After 
the  discovery  of  the  nitrate 
fields  the  Republic  of  Chile 
crowded  upward  along  the 
coast  and  began  to  mine  for 
the  valuable  stuff.  Peru  made 

A  DESCENDANT  OF  THE  INCAS  AND 
HIS  MOTHER. 


102  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

a  secret  treaty  of  alliance  with  Bolivia  in  1872,  which  later 
became  public,  and  which  Chile  believed  was  aimed  at  her 
miners  working  in  Bolivian  territory.  She  began  buying  war- 
ships, and  to  protect  her  interests  seized  the  Bolivian  ports, 
after  which  action  Bolivia  declared  war.  Peru  could  not, 
under  the  circumstances,  ignore  her  treaty  with  Bolivia,  espe- 
cially as  she  did  not  want  the  disputed  territory  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  Chile.  Her  offers  of  arbitration  were  refused,  Chile 
declaring  war  in  April,  1879,  and  opening  hostilities  by  block- 
ading the  Peruvian  ports  in  the  extreme  south. 

The  Chilean  navy  was  far  superior  to  that  of  Peru,  and  the 
latter  was  soon  destroyed,  though  it  fought  to  the  bitter  end. 
Being  in  command  of  the  sea,  Chile  could  land  an  army  wher- 
ever she  pleased,  and  Antofagasta  was  chosen  as  the  most 
vulnerable  point.  Ten  thousand  men  were  landed  there,  and 
though  every  foot  of  the  way  was  hotly  contested  by  the  brave 
Peruvians,  the  Chilean  army  finally  arrived  in  the  great  nitrate 
province  of  Tacna,  the  treasury  of  Peru.  Not  only  was  this 
lost,  but  Lima,  the  capital,  and  all  points  on  the  coast  were 
open  to  attack. 

Just  at  this  critical  moment  a  revolution  broke  out  in  Lima, 
the  President  having  sailed  for  Europe.  The  Chilean  army, 
heavily  re-enforced  and  equipped  with  modern  guns,  advanced 
from  Tacna,  and  although  the  Peruvians  fought  with  great 
courage,  their  country  lay  at  the  mercy  of  Chile.  It  was  at  this 
point  in  the  hostilities  that  the  United  States  of  North  America 
offered  to  act  as  mediator.  Chile  demanded  an  indemnity  and 
a  formal  cession  of  the  nitrate  regions.  Peru  refused  this, 
whereupon  Chile,  with  a  splendid  army  of  24,000  men,  ad- 
vanced on  Lima.  The  Peruvians  were  driven  back,  seemingly 
by  inches,  so  hotly  was  the  advance  contested,  and  the  slaugh- 
ter was  heart-breaking.  Over  5,000  Peruvians  were  killed  just 
outside  the  city,  and  4,000  were  taken  prisoners.  The  Chilean 
losses  at  the  same  time  were  5,000.  On  January  17,  1881,  the 
Chilean  army  took  possession  of  Lima,  and  it  was  not  until 
five  years  afterward  that  the  Peruvian  flag  again  waved  over 
the  capital. 

The  Chilean  army  withdrew  in  1886,  leaving  4,000  men  to 
see  that  the  treaty  of  peace,  made  October  20,  1883,  was  rati- 

\ 


PERU 


103 


fied.  The  provisions  of  this  treaty  differed  but  little  from  what 
Chile  had  demanded  before.  The  money  indemnity  was  waived 
and  half  the  guano  receipts,  revenues  received  from  the  soil 
fertilizer  gathered  on  the  Guano  Islands,  were  left  to  Peru. 
The  provinces  of  Tacna  and  Arica  were  to  be  held  by  Chile  for 


A  SHRINE  IN  A  CHURCH  AT  COPALMA,  PERU. 


ten  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  a  popular  vote  was  to 
decide  which  should  hold  them,  the  losing  country  to  receive 
$10,000,000  from  the  other. 

It  would  have  been  better  for  the  interests  of  permanent 
peace  had  the  fate  of  the  provinces  been  definitely  fixed,  as 


104 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Chile  and  Peru  have  never  been  able  to  agree  upon  the  terms 
under  which  the  vote  of  the  people  should  be  conducted.  Chile 
still  has  the  provinces,  and  Peru  is  still  trying  to  recover  them. 
I  have  recounted  these  historic  events  in  as  few  words  as  seemed 
possible.  In  truth,  the  full  history  of  the  Incas  and  the  opera- 
tions of  Spain  in  Peru,  together  with  the  later  history  of  the 
Peruvian  people,  would  make  several  interesting  volumes. 

Peru  of  today  is  in  much  the  same  political  position  as  that 
occupied  by  the  United  States  twenty  years  ago.  The  old- 
timers,  those  who  were  saddened  by  the  results  of  the  great  war 
with  Chile,  are  fast  disappearing,  and  a  new  element,  one  of 
progression,  one  desiring  peace  and  commercial  stability,  has 
taken  the  place  of  the  old  elements.  The  Peruvian  aristocracy 
has  learned  its  lesson  .in  the  hard  school  of  adversity,  and  now 
competes  with  the  commercial  classes  in  sober,  serious  attention 
to  industrial  and  governmental  matters.  Every  division  of  the 
people  desires  to  contribute  to  the  regeneration,  financial,  polit- 
ical and  moral,  of  their  country. 


RURAL  HOUSE  IN  SECTION  OF  PERU  WHERE  IT  NEVER  RAINS. 


PERU 


105 


I  had  the  honor  of  being  received  by  President  Leguia,  who 
is  a  very  able,  energetic  man.  He  was  very  much  interested  in 
the  United  States,  his  son,  when  I  was  in  Peru,  being  at  college 
in  the  University  of  Wisconsin. 


THE   STEEL  DOCK   AT   PACASMAYO,    PERU,    2,4OO   FEET   LONG. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
ON  THE  ROOF  OF  THE  WORLD. 

4 1  T3  EYOND  the  Alps  lies  Italy,"  is  a  phrase  that  is  familiar 

-LJ  to  every  schoolboy.  Beyond  the  Andes  lies  a  country 
that  is  old  in  history,  yet  little  known.  It  is  just  as  probable 
that  the  Garden  of  Eden  was  located  there  as  in  any  other  of  a 
dozen  places  claimed  for  Mother  Eve's  fabled  apple  orchard. 

The  world  advances  only  with  transportation.  This  is  a 
fact  that  government  and  economists  now  generally  recognize. 
To  water  must  be  given  the  first  place  in  both  tonnage  and 
cheapness,  but  railroads  must  be  depended  upon  for  reaching 
the  more  inaccessible  and  isolated  portions  of  any  country.  The 
commercial  growth  of  South  America  has  been  slow,  because 
adequate  transportation  to  the  interior  was  not  recognized  and 
established  in  an  earlier  day.  The  unstable  Governments  of 
the  past  prevented  capital  from  building  railroads,  ruined 
credits,  and  prevented  prosperity.  It  is  quite  different  now. 

The  Panama  Canal  will  benefit  Peru  very  greatly,  as  it  will 
bring  her  products  nearer  to  the  markets  of  the  world  than 
those  of  any  other  country  in  South  America.  The  canal  will 
also  open  up  Peru  more  fully  as  a  market  for  the  products  of 
the  United  States,  as  it  will  be  easier  and  cheaper  to  reach  ner 
ports,  by  rail  and  water,  from  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
than  California.  By  looking  at  a  map  of  North  and  South 
America  you  will  see  that  the  Panama  Canal  and  Peru  are 
almost  south  of  New  York,  not  New  Orleans,  as  most  people 
believe.  The  reader  will,  therefore,  understand  why  I  am 
giving  so  much  space  to  Peru  in  this  volume. 

In  1883,  when  the  war  with  Chile  was  over,  Peru  had  an 
immense  foreign  debt  and  no  income  with  which  to  pay  either 
principal  or  interest.  The  railroads  belonged  to  the  Govern- 
ment and,  like  many  Government-operated  properties,  were 
practically  worthless  to  the  country.  However,  it  formed  a 

106 


AMONG    THE     MOUNTAINS     ON     THE     PERU     CENTRAL     RAILWAY. 
NOTE  THE  SWITCHBACKS  AND  ZIGZAG  STYLE  OF  TRACK. 


io8 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


basis  for  a  settlement  of  the  national  debt,  owed  largely  to  Eng- 
lish capitalists. 

In  1891,  the  "Peruvian  Corporation,"  an  English  company, 
was  formed,  and  it  assumed  the  $250,000,000  debt  of  Peru,  in 
consideration  for  which  act  the  Government  ceded  to  the  cor- 
poration all  the  State  railroads  of  the  country,  some  mines  and 
lands  (all  unproductive),  and  in  addition  agreed  to  pay  $400,- 
ooo  cash  a  year  for  sixty  years  and  turn  over  the  income  from 
one-half  of  the  Guano  Islands  deposits.  The  guano  deposits 
pay  the  corporation  over  $500,000  a  year,  and  altogether  the 
net  receipts  of  this  $100,000,000  corporation  in  one  year 
amounted  to  about  $2,500,000,  or  one  per  cent  on  the  debt  from 
which  Peru  was  relieved.  Of  course  no  one  knows  what  the 
corporation  paid  for  these  bonds  and  debts,  as  they  were  con- 
sidered of  little  value  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  year  1910,  Mr.  W.  L.  Morkill  having  taken  charge  as 
president  of  the  properties,  was  the  best  in  the  history  of  the 
corporation  for  net  earnings.  The  railroads  are  kept  up  like 
Continental  roads,  and  persistent  scientific  work  has  made  the 
roadbeds  very  nearly  perfect.  The  Peru  Central,  which  runs 
from  Lima  east  up  over  the  Andes  Mountains,  is,  to  quote  what 


TICLIO,   ON   THE   PERU    CENTRAL   RAILWAY,    THE    HIGHEST 
TELEGRAPH  STATION  IN  THE  WORLD. 


fin 


THE    OROYA    MINES    ON    THE    PERU    CENTRAL    RAILWAY    IN    THE 
HIGH   ANDES,    PERU. 


i io  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

every  writer,  engineer  and  railroad  man  who  has  seen  the  road 
says,  "the  most  wonderful  railroad  in  the  world."  Its  altitude  is 
the  highest  occupied  by  any  railroad,  being  at  one  point  17,500 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  You  cannot  write  about  South 
America  without  mentioning  the  Amazon  River,  the  Incas,  the 
prairies  of  Argentina,  and  the  Ferrocarril  Central  of  Peru,  any 
more  than  you  can  omit  the  Niagara  Falls,  Chicago,  New  York, 
or  the  Yellowstone  Park,  in  speaking  of  the  United  States  of 
North  America. 

Thirty  years  ago  I  "wrote  up"  a  man  for  a  paper  for  which  I 
was  reporting  in  Fargo,  North  Dakota.  The  man  had  just  ar- 
rived in  the  West  from  serving  a  term  in  the  penitentiary  in 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  his  name  was  Charles  T.  Yerkes — after- 
ward of  world-wide  street-railroad  fame,  having  built,  during 
his  eventful  career,  the  Underground  Railway  in  London,  Eng- 
land, and  extended  the  street  car  lines  of  the  North  and  West 
divisions  of  Chicago  until  they  formed  a  gigantic  system.  The 
story  I  wrote  for  my  paper  about  Mr.  Yerkes  was,  I  think,  a 
good  one,  and  the  proprietor  and  editor — the  same  person — sat 
in  his  big  armchair  and  rocked  as  he  read  it.  When  he  finished 
it  he  quietly  said :  "Can't  use  it,  my  boy." 

"Why,  Major?"  I  asked. 

"Because,  my  boy,  when  a  man  crosses  the  Red  River  of  the 
North  his  past  is  forgotten."  I  learned  afterward  that  my 
employer  also  "had  done  time  back  East,"  and  that  was  the 
"reason  why." 

The  Peru  Central  (or  Oroya)  Railroad,  the  Eighth  Wonder 
of  the  World,  was  planned,  engineered  and  the  most  difficult 
portion  built  by  a  man  who  "couldn't  go  home  to  the  States." 
His  name  was  Henry  Meiggs,  a  soldier  of  fortune  who  was 
born  in  New  York  State.  After  making  and  losing  several 
fortunes  in  the  East,  he  went  to  California,  where  he  engaged 
in  business  on  an  extensive  scale  and  soon  got  into  trouble.  He 
left  California  "while  the  going  was  good"  in  a  ship  chartered 
for  his  own  use,  and  landed  at  Lima.  Had  he  not  possessed  "a 
record"  possibly  his  name  would  not  have  stuck  to  the  great 
railroad,  which  is  a  monument  to  his  genius.  He  "made  good" 
in  Peru,  paying  back  the  money  he  owed  when  he  left  San 


ii2  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Francisco,  with  interest,  and  opening  up  a  new-old  country  to 
the  world. 

Going  up  this  wonderful  railroad  from  Lima  to  Galera  tun- 
nel, a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles,  it  took  a  n  2-ton  oil-burn- 
ing locomotive,  pulling  four  cars,  nine  hours  to  make  the  ascent. 

After  passing  through  some  sixty  tunnels  going  up  and  the 
4,000- foot  Galera  tunnel  at  the  summit  (15,665  feet  above 
sea  level),  the  road  drops  down  2,000  feet  every  hour  for 
two  hours,  and  at  a  height  of  about  12,000  feet  reaches  the 
town  of  Oroya,  which  lies  between  the  two  ranges  of  the  Andes. 
This  "roof  of  the  world"  extends  from  Colombia  to  Argentina, 
north  and  south,  through  Ecuador,  Peru  and  Bolivia,  for  more 
than  two  thousand  miles,  or  as  far  as  from  New  York  to  Den- 
ver. In  all  directions  can  be  seen  villages,  cattle,  sheep,  llamas 
and  evidences  of  mining.  Here  it  is  possible  to  support  a  great 
population. 

From  Lima,  the  journey  up  this  amazing  railroad  probably 
cannot  be  equaled  in  strangeness  and  grandeur  anywhere  else 
on  the  globe.  There  really  is  no  language  adequate  to  express 
it.  Leaving  Lima,  the  road  follows  the  foaming,  roaring  Rimac 
River  for  forty  miles  through  a  verdureless  desert,  save  where 
irrigation  is  employed.  In  spots  where  water  is  drawn  off 
from  the  river  there  are  fields  of  corn,  waving  stretches  of 
sugar-cane,  tall  palms  and  banana  trees.  In  these  sheltered,  irri- 
gated "pockets"  among  the  foothills  of  the  Andes  grow  apples, 
peaches,  melons,  oranges,  custard  apples,  strawberries,  delicious 
avocado  pears,  .and  a  number  of  varieties  of  tropical  fruits  that 
the  Northern  man  is  not  used  to  see  growing.  As  the  engine 
climbs  upward,  the  Andes  tower  everywhere,  gaunt,  treeless, 
mighty,  awesome.  From  the  train  one  looks  down  into  the 
depths  that  turn  the  head  dizzy  and  bring  the  heart  up  into 
the  throat;  mountain  walls  spring  upward,  seamed,  soaring, 
swart ;  Alpine  flowers  cling  here  and  there  to  the  rocks,  though 
one  seems  in  a  world  where  the  very  bones  of  the  earth  are 
broken  and  piled  up  in  indescribable  and  appalling  masses.  In 
many  places  on  the  way  we  saw  impressive  evidences  of  the  old 
Inca  prowess  and  endurance.  Here  and  there  the  remains  of  the 
splendid  roads  they  cut  in  the  mountainsides  could  be  seen,  and 
terraces  on  the  hillsides,  sometimes  twenty  or  thirty  of  them, 


PERU 


1*3 


one  above  another,  were  mute  but  tremendous  witnesses  of  the 
patience  of  this  ancient  people.  Men  are  still  living  upon  and 
farming  these  wonderful  terraces,  and  at  times  we  saw  goats 
and  sheep  far  up  the  steeps  and  meek-eyed,  long-necked  llamas 
bearing  burdens  along  the  dizzy  roads.  It  was  a  journey  never 
to  be  forgotten. 

The  main  line  of  the  Central  Railroad  ends  at  Oroya,  one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  miles  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
from  Oroya  a  branch  runs  south  eighty  miles  to  Huancayo, 
which  lies  in  a  beautiful  valley  only  ten  thousand  feet  above  sea 
level.  Possibly  the  greatest  Indian  market  in  Peru  is  found 
there,  and  but  little  change  has  occurred  in  hundreds  of  years. 
When  the  great  highway  of  the  Incas,  from  Cuzco  to  Quito, 
passed  through  this  valley,  the  country  supported  a  population 
five  times  as  great  as  at  the  present  date. 

An  effective  description  of  the  scenery  of  this  wonderful 
cloud-realm  would  be  possible  only  to  a  poet.  Even  photo- 
graphs give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  grandeur  of  the  mountain 
ranges,  in  which  the  glory  of  the  sunset  and  the  miracle  of  the 
dawn  are  never  ending  marvels.  Beautiful  natural  scenery 


LOOKING  DOWN  UPON  THE  ROOFS  OF  CERRO  DE  PASCO,  PERU. 
8 


ii4  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

doubtless  has  always  been  a  powerful  influence  in  the  spiritual- 
izing of  man,  and  looking  abroad  upon  this  inspiring  kingdom 
of  the  Incas,  one  can  easily  fancy  why  they  built  temples  and 
worshiped  the  Sun,  the  Creator's  most  sublime  manifestation. 

However,  we  must  be  practical  and  note  the  work  of  the 
men  of  the  present  day,  for  we  live  in  a  commercial  era  under  a 
new  order  of  life.  This  extraordinary  mountain  railroad  forces 
this  fact  upon  one.  From  Oroya  it  turns  northward  to  Cerro 
de  Pasco,  eighty  miles  away,  this  latter  portion  of  the  line  be- 
longing to  the  Cerro  de  Pasco  Mining  and  Smelting  Company, 
which  constructed  the  road  seven  years  ago  in  order  to  get  their 
supplies  to  the  mines  and  their  copper  to  market. 

We  arrived  at  Cerro  de  Pasco,  where  the  smelter  of  the 
copper  company  is  located,  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  We  were 
14,300  feet  above  sea  level,  and  all  about  us  were  the  towering 
snow-capped  peaks  of  the  Peruvian  Andes,  many  of  them  over 
20,000  feet  above  sea  level.  The  Cerro  de  Pasco  mines  and 
smelter  are  owned  by  a  big  American  syndicate  composed  of 
James  B.  Haggin,  the  veteran  copper  man,  J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
and  the  Hearst  and  Vanderbilt  estates.  Mr.  Louis  Haggin,  a 
son  of  James  B.  Haggin,  is  president  of  the  mining  company, 
as  well  as  of  the  Cerro  de  Pasco  Railway  Company. 

The  mines  are  situated  near  the  city  of  Cerro  de  Pasco, 
some  six  miles  from  the  smelter,  and  we  made  the  trip  to 
them  on  a  hand  car  driven  by  four  Cholo  Indians.  There  are 
about  two  thousand  of  these  Indians  employed  as  laborers  in 
the  mines  and  smelters,  in  addition  to  some  two  hundred  sal- 
aried men,  who  are  mostly  Americans.  The  superficial  under- 
ground workings  of  the  mines  cover  an  area  one  mile  by  one- 
half  mile  and  there  are,  altogether,  about  one  hundred  miles  of 
workings.  The  mines  are  worked  from  two  hundred  to  six 
hundred  foot  levels.  From  the  two  hundred  to  the  four  hun- 
dred foot  levels  they  were  taking  ore  when  I  was  there,  and 
from  the  four  hundred  to  the  six  hundred  foot  levels  they  were 
prospecting. 

The  ordinary  monthly  output  of  the  mines  is  27,000  tons  of 
ore.  They  have  three  grades  of  ore,  No.  i,  7  per  cent  and 
above;  No.  2,  3  to  7  per  cent;  No.  3,  3  per  cent  and  below. 
The  Cerro  de  Pasco  mines  were  worked  by  the  Spaniards  years 


MINES  AT  CASAPALCA,  PERU. 


OLD   SILVER   MINES,    CERRO  DE   PASCO,   PERU. 


n6  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

ago  for  silver,  and  many  of  their  levels  have  been  found  and 
timbered  up  to  prevent  cave-ins.  All  of  the  timber  used  in  the 
mines  is- brought  from  Oregon.  They  are  fairly  dry,  particu- 
larly at  the  two  hundred  and  three  hundred  foot  levels. 

The  city  of  Cerro  de  Pasco  is  the  highest  town  in  the  world, 
and  has  a  population  of  about  12,000  people,  in  most  part 
Cholo  Indians.  I  rode  through  the  city  on  a  mule  in  a  blind- 
ing snow  and  hail  storm.  However,  on  a  later  tour  I  discov- 
ered that  the  streets  were  narrow  and  dirty,  the  houses  mostly 
of  wood,  covered  with  tin  roofs,  many  of  which  were  patched 
with  portions  of  tin  cans. 

The  power  for  the  smelter  is  supplied  by  coal  taken  from  a 
mine  owned  by  the  company,  some  twenty  miles  away.  From 
the  smelter  they  ship  ninety-eight  per  cent  pure  copper,  and  get 
enough  gold  and  silver  from  every  ton  to  pay  the  freight  to 
the  company's  refining  plant  at  Perth  Amboy,  New  Jersey. 

We  had  heard  a  good  deal  about  soroche  (mountain  sick- 
ness) before  leaving  for  the  mines,  and  discovered  later  that 
it  is  like  an  English  joke,  not  to  be  laughed  at.  We  did  not 
believe,  when  we  were  in  Lima,  all  that  we  heard  about  this 
dreaded  sickness,  but  when  we  reached  Cerro  de  Pasco,  four- 
teen thousand  three  hundred  feet  above  the  sea  level,  every 
member  of  the  party  was  attacked,  and  it  is  the  most  awful 
thing  of  the  kind  I  have  ever  experienced.  Plain,  old  "sick-at- 
the-stomach"  does  not  begin  to  describe  the  awful  nausea  that 
grips  and  racks  the  sufferer,  who  gasps  for  breath  and  feels 
that  his  heart  is  about  to  stop  beating,  and  oh !  such  a  head- 
ache !  The  throbbing,  beating  pain  gives  one  the  impression 
that  his  head  is  going  to  blow  to  pieces. 

We  sent  for  a  physician,  a  young  Dr.  McDonald,  who  had 
been  at  the  mines  only  two  weeks.  He  took  our  temperatures, 
felt  our  pulses  and  then  remarked,  "You  know,  I  have  been 
here  but  a  short  time,  and  when  I  came  I  had  the  soroche.  I 
tried  all  the  medicines  I  had  to  make  me  feel  better,  but  none 
did  me  any  good,  so  what  is  the  use  of  me  giving  you  any?  It 
is  beyond  me,  this  soroche,  and  before  I  came  into  the  Andean 
altitudes  I  had  never  heard  of  it.  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  relieve 
you." 

We  were  left  to  suffer  and  groan  and  wait  for  the  sickness 


PERU 


117 


to  wear  itself  out,  and  it  lasted  three  days !  One  has  no  appe- 
tite, and  when  he  stands  upon  his  feet  or  attempts  any  exer- 
cise his  head  swims  so  that  the  only  feasible  thing  to  do  is  to  lie 
down.  Then  one  minute  he  is  afraid  he  will  die,  and  the  next 
he  prays  that  he  will. 

Returning  to  Lima,  I  accompanied  the  general  manager  of 
the  Central  Railway  in  his  private  car  from  Oroya  to  Galera 
tunnel,  the  highest  point  on  the  through  line,  although  from 
here  they  have  a  branch  running  up  to  Morococha,  a  mining 

camp  17,575  feet 
above  sea  level.  This 
is  the  highest  point 
in  the  world  where 
m  e  n  work.  The 
richest  copper  ore  in 
Peru  is  mined  here, 
and  the  mine  be- 
longs to  the  Cerro  de 
Pasco  company. 

At  Galera  tunnel, 
General  Man  a  g  e  r 
Feehan,  Senor  Pedro 
Larranaga,  a  direct- 
or of  the  railway 
company,  and  my- 
self, left  Mr.  Fee- 
han's  car  and  took 
a  specially  con- 
structed hand  car 
for  the  hundred-mile 
trip  to  Lima,  every 
foot  of  which  is 
down  grade.  There 

were  two  brakes  on  the  car,  one  handled  by  Mr.  Feehan,  the 
other  by  Senor  Larranaga,  and  the  carefulness  with  which 
they  watched  every  foot  of  the  road  convinced  me  of  the 
danger  of  traveling  twenty-five  miles  an  hour  or  more  down 
grade  on  a  light  car. 

The  beauty  of  the  scenery,  the  ruggedness  of  the  high 


A  SUSPENSION  BRIDGE,  BUILT  BY  THE 
INDIANS  OF  PERU. 


u8  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

mountains,  the  deep  ravines,  with  rivers  sometimes  2,000  feet 
below,  the  sixty  tunnels  we  rushed  through,  the  curves,  reverse 
curves,  switchbacks,  the  mining  camps,  smelters,  villages, 
bridges,  waterfalls,  peons,  were  like  objects  in  some  strange 
journey  in  a  dream.  On  and  on  we  rushed,  only  stopping  at  a 
switchback  to  turn  over  our  seats  and  face  the  other  way,  and 
the  seemingly  sheer  madness  of  the  experience  will  survive  in 
my  memory  should  I  live  a  thousand  years.  Here  they  slow  up 
long  enough  for  us  to  look  down  through  a  bridge,  where,  in  a 
river  four  hundred  feet  below,  lies  part  of  a  bridge,  an  engine 
and  fourteen  cars  that  "got  away."  That  is  the  only  explana- 
tion of  the  accident  that  cost  a  number  of  lives.  Again  we  pass 
a  spot  where  they  cut  a  tunnel  for  the  river  and  appropriated  the 
bed  of  the  stream  for  the  railroad.  Again  we  are  running  around 
a  curve  on  a  big  rock  sticking  out  over  the  river  so  far  that  the 
water  is  directly  under  us  and  cannot  be  seen.  There  is  not 
and  never  will  be  another  railroad  like  this.  I  am  proud  of  my 
American  fellow  man,  exile  though  he  may  have  been,  who 
planned  and  put  it  through.  I  have  sailed  in  the  air,  been  on 
a  burning  ship  at  sea,  hunted  grizzly  bears  in  the  Rockies,  lions 
and  elephants  in  Africa,  and  have  been  on  the  firing  line  in 
battle,  but  I  never  before  experienced  all  the  sensations  possible 
to  those  past  perils  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

With  the  railroads  of  Peru  in  the  hands  of  a  corporation 
such  as  now  owns  them,  and  which  employs  talented  men  to 
care  for,  protect  and  extend  them,  it  seems  to  me  that  this  coun- 
try made  a  very  fine  bargain  when  it  got  rid  of  its  national  debt 
and  secured  good  transportation  at  the  same  time. 

Before  the  war  with  Chile,  as  I  have  mentioned,  Peru  was 
very  rich  in  both  nitrate  and  guano,  both  of  which  are  un- 
equaled  fertilizers.  Chile  took  the  nitrate,  which  will  be  worked 
out,  some  day,  but  as  long  as  the  birds  live  there  will  be  guano 
on  the  islands  the  birds  inhabit.  Recently  the  Peruvian  Corpo- 
ration, which  owns  half  of  the  islands,  has  protected  the  birds 
in  nesting  and  fledgling  time  by  inaugurating  a  closed  season  of 
several  months,  during  which  no  guano  is  removed  and  no  per- 
sons are  allowed  on  the  islands. 

It  was  formerly  supposed  that  the  seals  dropped  guano  on 
the  land,  but  this  has  been  disproved,  and  as  the  seals  only  eat 


PERU 


119 


the  eggs  and  disturb  the  young  birds,  as  well  as  catch  the  fish 
that  the  birds  live  on,  the  company  is  now  exterminating  them. 
These  seals  are  not  fur-bearing,  but  their  hides  are  good  for 
leather  and  some  oil  is  saved  from  the  carcasses.  The  Govern- 
ment, by  pursuing  the  same  wise  policy,  can  greatly  increase 
the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  guano  deposits,  and  thus  offset 
the  loss  of  its  nitrate  fields.  The  net  revenue  derived  from 
guano  by  the  Government  and  the  Peruvian  Corporation  com- 
bined is  about  $1,500,000  annually. 

When  I  first  saw  the  barren  desert  coast  of  Peru  I  was  dis- 
appointed, but  now  that  I  appreciate  how  the  snows  deposited 
on  the  high  mountains  are  continually  melting  under  the  tropi- 
cal sun,  forming  rivers  that  reach  the  ocean  underground,  I 
am  satisfied  that  sufficient  water  to  supply  artesian  wells,  with 
which  much  of  the  desert  land  can  be  irrigated,  will  be  found 


LLAMAS  AT   MOROCOCIIA  COPPER   MINES,   PERU.       AS   PACK 
ANIMALS  THEY   CARRY  JUST    IOO  POUNDS  EACH. 


120  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

when  the  wells  are  drilled.  Confirmation  of  this  theory  is 
found  in  the  many  strong  wells  that  have  been  developed  within 
the  last  few  years,  and  everything  grows  here  abundantly  where 
there  is  sufficient  water. 

Few  people,  perhaps,  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  our  own 
great  chain  of  lakes — Superior,  Michigan,  Huron,  Erie  and 
Ontario — receive  thirteen-sixteenths  of  their  water  from  under- 
ground rivers,  many  of  which  .rise  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Only  a  few  of  these  subterranean  streams  are  from  the  Cana- 
dian side,  and  that  is  why  the  United  States  is  really  entitled  to 
more  than  one-half  of  the  water  in  the  Great  Lakes,  and  why  the 
city  of  Chicago  is  entitled  to  draw  water  from  Lake  Michigan 
and  send  it  down  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  instead  of  all  the  water 
following  the  course  of  ages  over  the  Niagara  Falls. 

Depending  on  irrigation,  sugar  and  cotton  are  limited  in 
area  in  Peru,  but  are  very  profitable  crops.  The  cotton  is  yel- 
low and  grows  on  bushes  like  trees  that  bear  for  seven  years 
without  replanting.  These  small  trees  produce  as  fine  a  grade 
of  cotton  as  the  famous  "Sea  Island,"  and  it  is  often  used  for 
wool  by  manufacturers.  Recently  an  American  scientist  found, 
on  a  small  cotton  plantation,  over  on  the  Inambari  River,  the 
parasite  the  world  has  been  looking  for  to  destroy  the  insect 
that  has  been  injuring  the  cotton  plants  of  the  United  States. 

Nothing  grows  better  in  Peru,  where  water  is  found  at  the 
proper  elevation,  than  sugar-cane.  The  sugar  plantations  are 
immensely  profitable,  with  any  kind  of  decent  care,  as  the  cane 
grows  the  year  around,  and  a  small  mill  can  work  almost  con- 
tinuously, while  in  the  southern  part  of  the  United  States  and 
Cuba  the  cane  mills  must  have  capacity  sufficient  to  take  care  of 
a  whole  year's  crop  in  sixty  days. 

The  oil  fields  of  Peru  that  have  been  developed  produce  a 
supply  greater  than  the  home  market  consumes.  The  fields  are 
owned  by  English  capitalists,  and  the  operators  export  to  Cali- 
fornia the  oil  and  refine  it  into  benzine  and  gasoline,  using  the 
fuel  oils  in  Peru.  The  California  oil  will  not  make  gasoline  or 
benzine,  and  how  nice  and  convenient  it  is  for  us  to  supply,  free 
of  duty,  that  territory  from  Peru  by  water  freight ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ANCIENT   INCA  CAPITAL. 

MODERN  Cuzco  is  a  study  in  the  passing  of  the  old  and 
the  coming  of  the  new.      Only  in   1909  the  railroad 
reached  this  city,  and  everything  is  now  changing  rapidly.     A 
horse  tram  has  been  built  to  connect  with  the  railroad  station,  a 

mile  from  the  center  of  the 

city,  which  is  built  on  the  side 
of  a  mountain.  One  of  the 
most  objectionable  features 
of  the  city,  because  it  is 
forced  upon  the  notice  every- 
where one  goes,  is  the  open 
sewers,  and  though  they  are 
filled  with  running  water, 
they  constitute  a  nuisance 
which  can  be  abated  only 
when  they  are  put  under 
ground.  This,  we  were  as- 
sured, was  in  contemplation. 
Within  twenty  miles  of  the 
city  there  is  an  abundant 
water  power  which  will  soon 
be  transmitted  by  electricity 
to  Cuzco  for  lighting  pur- 
poses. Then  this  ancient 
capital  of  the  Sun  Worship- 
ers will  no  doubt  enter  a  new 
era. 

In  the  old  days,  before  the 
Spanish  conquerors  came,  the 
Incas  had  one  immense  park 
ill  in  the  center  of  the  city,  but 

ANCIENT  WATER  FOUNTAIN, 
CUZCO,  PERU. 

121 


122 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


the  Viceroy  of  Spain  cut  this  park  into  three  plazas  and  built 
houses  in  between  and  around  them,  and  while  this  spoiled  the 
great  park,  it  utilized  the  space  to  better  advantage,  for  at  this 
altitude,  10,500  feet  above  sea  level,  no  one  cares  to* walk  about 
more  than  is  necessary. 

The  province  of  Cuzco  has  a  population  of  about  400,000 
and  is  one  of  the  chief  political  divisions  of  the  Republic  of 
Peru.  The  city  of  Cuzco  lies  at  the  junction  of  three  rivers. 
It  is  six  hundred  and  forty-three  miles  from  Lima,  and  five 
hundred  and  eight  miles  from  Mollendo,  the  only  port  reached 
by  railroad.  The  city,  owing  to  its  commanding  position,  is 
destined  to  become  a  great  distributing  center  for  the  country  to 
the  north,  east  and  west.  To  the  north  and  east  lies  the  great 
tropical  and  semi-tropical  country,  and  in  all  directions  there  is 
a  fertile  grazing  and  agricultural  country.  In  addition  to  these 
there  are  many  rich  mines  which,  with  the  coming  of  steam 
transportation,  will  be  developed. 

The  greatest  copper  discovery  of  the  age  is  the  Ferrobomba 
mines,  forty  miles  northwest  of  Cuzco,  where,  it  is  said,  there  is 
a  solid  mountain  of  copper  ore  in  sight.  These  mines  can  be 
worked  at  an  altitude  of  13,000  feet,  while  the  Cerro  de  Pasco 
mines  are  worked  at  14,500  feet.  Ferrobomba  district  has  been 
but  slightly  developed,  it  being  necessary  to  await  the  extension 


of  the  railroad, 
mines  have  been 
trolled  by  an  English 
reported  that  they 
hands  of  capitalists 


These  wonderful 
owned  and  con- 
syndicate,  but  it  is 
have  passed  into  the 
of  the  United  States. 


A  CORNER  OF  PLAZA  AND  THE  CATHEDRAL,  CUZCO,  PERU. 


GROUPS  OF  NATIVE  INDIANS  IN  REGION  OF  CUZCO,  PERU. 


124 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


BIRD  S-EYE  VIEW  OF  CUZCO, 

While  the  moneyed  people  of  the  United  States  are  gradually 
acquiring  many  of  the  "good  things"  in  South  America,  they  for 
the  most  part  buy  second-hand,  and  have  done  little  original 
prospecting  or  promoting  on  their  own  account. 

The  private  residences,  offices,  agencies  and  banks  of  Cuzco 
open  onto  beautiful  patios,  or  courtyards,  banked  with  flowers. 
Only  shops  open  onto  the  streets.  Common  labor,  by  Indians, 
is  very  cheap,  about  thirty  cents  a  day.  Drunkenness  among 
the  common  people  seems  to  be  the  curse  of  the  country.  They 
make  a  vile  home-brewed  beer  of  anything  that  will  rot  and 
ferment,  and  of  this  they  imbibe  large  quantities,  with  the  usual 
disastrous  results. 

The  Prefect  invited  us  to  review  the  soldiers  stationed  in 
Cuzco,  a  force  numbering  five  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  of- 
ficers, and  we  accepted  the  invitation.  Leading  the  column  was  a 
band  of  twenty-five  pieces,  which  played  as  well  as  any  military 
band  that  I  have  ever  heard.  Following  the  band  came  a 


PERU 


125 


:E  OLD  INCA  CAPITAL  OF  PERU. 

squadron  of  cavalry  well  mounted  and  equipped,  and  following 
the  cavalry  was  a  battalion  of  infantry  composed  of  sturdy,  well- 
drilled  and  serious-looking  soldiers.  Behind  them  was  a  bat- 
tery of  mountain  artillery,  small  rapid-fire  Maxim  guns  being 
mounted  on  mules.  In  times  of  war  or  revolution  these  bat- 
teries are  the  most  efficient  branch  of  the  army,  being  able  to 
get  over  the  rough  country  and  intervening  mountains  at  a 
rapid  pace.  The  soldiers  wore  clean,  bright-looking  uniforms, 
consisting  of  a  blue  cap  and  blouse,  and  short  red  trousers,  the 
calf  of  the  leg  being  covered  with  dark  blue  puttees. 

After  reviewing  the  soldiers,  we  went  with  the  Prefect  to 
the  market  place  in  the  Plaza  San  Sebastian.  The  Indian 
market  women  sit  under  little  canvas  tents,  their  wares  in  front 
of  them,  arranged  in  small  piles,  and  they  carry  their  goods  to 
market  on  the  backs  of  llamas  or  burros,  if  they  are  fortunate 
enough  to  own  one.  The  market  prices  are  more  reasonable  in 
Cuzco  than  in  most  other  places  in  Peru.  Lamb  is  sold  for 


126 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


PREFECT  AND  SOME  LEADING  CITIZENS  OF  CUZCO,  PERU. 


cents  a  pound;  beef  for  8  cents;  chicken  for  i2l/2  cents;  eggs 
for  12  cents  a  dozen ;  potatoes  for  2  cents  a  pound,  and  a  dozen 
ears  of  fine  sweet  corn  for  10  cents.  Other  articles  of  food  are 
•sold  at  equally  reasonable  prices.  Speaking  of  things  to  eat, 
few  people  know  that  our  first  Irish  potato  was  brought  to 
Europe  from  near  Cuzco.  I  secured  two  very  rare  Indian 
hand-woven  vicuna  ponchos,  from  which  I  will  have  a  shooting 
suit  made  that  I  fancy  will  last  me  through  the  balance  of  my 
life.  This  cloth  is  very  light,  warm  and  waterproof. 

Every  one  puts  on  his  "best  bib  and  tucker"  in  Cuzco  on 
Sunday.  The  stores  close  at  ten  in  the  morning  and  the  city 
gives  itself  over  to  church-going  and  simple  amusements.  The 
parks  are  gay  with  people,  and  the  air  is  thrilled  at  times  by 
sounds  from  the  deep-toned  bell  in  the  steeple  of  the  massive 
stone  cathedral  on  the  Plaza  de  Armas.  This  great  sonorous 
bell  is  famous  throughout  Peru,  and  is  called  the  Maria  Angela, 
its  composition  being  largely  of  gold.  It  took  ninety  years  to 


PERU 


127 


complete  the  cathedral  and  it  unquestionably  is  a  magnificent 
structure.  The  interior  is  divided  by  stately  stone  pillars  into 
three  naves  or  sections.  In  the  central  nave  is  the  choir  and  in 
front  of  it  stands  the  high  altar,  covered  with  silver.  In  the 
Inca  times  the  altars  erected  to  the  Sun  were  covered  with  gold, 
but  the  looting  Spaniards  carried  most  of  that  away  and  gave  it 
over  to  baser  uses. 

There  are  many  churches  and  convents  in  Cuzco,  built  by 
the  Spaniards  after  their  conquest  of  the  Incas,  some  of  them 
being  erected  on  the  foundation  of  the  walls  of  the  Inca  temple, 
while  several  of  the  old  convents  are  used  as  shops  by  the 
merchants  of  Cuzco.  The  church  of  La  Merced  is  built  on  the 
foundations  of  an  ancient  Inca  temple  which  was  dedicated  to 
the  worship  of  the  Sun.  The  interior  of  this  church  is  large, 
with  great  stairways  of  black  granite  running  to  the  galleries 
above.  The  convent  of  Santo  Domingo  is  built  on  the  founda- 


A  TYPICAL  RETAIL  SHOP  OF  GENERAL  MERCHANDISE,  CUZCO,  PERU. 


128 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


SHOPS  IN  CORRIDOR  OF  PLAZA,  CUZCO,  PERU. 

tion  walls  of  the  Ceoricaucha,  the  richest  of  the  Inca  temples 
of  worship,  and  a  Christian  altar  occupies  the  very  place  where 
the  Incas'  sacred  emblems  to  the  Sun  God  were  guarded  by 
their  high  priests.  The  cells  for  the  nuns  in  the  convent  of 
Santa  Gatalina  are  identically  the  same  as  those  occupied  by 
the  Virgins  of  the  Sun. 

In  this  there  is  something  both  poetical  and  fitting,  since 
the  spiritual  conceptions  of  all  peoples,  when  analyzed,  are 
found  to  be  essentially  the  same — adoration  of  the  felt  but  un- 
seen intelligence  that  dominates  the  life  of  the  universe.  The 
ancient  Incas  felt  and  saw  that  Mighty  Something  in  the  daz- 
zling splendor  of  the  Sun,  the  nuns  of  Santa  Catalina  look 
upon  the  crucifix  and  through  that  symbol  of  God's  love  men- 
tally conceive  of  the  God  that  rules  the  Sun  itself.  In  essence 
the  prayers  and  adoration  of  both  were  probably  much  the 
same. 

Ancient  Cuzco  was  the  capital  and  treasure  city  of  the 
Incas.  The  tribes  under  their  dominion  paid  tribute,  bringing 


IN  AND  ABOUT  CUZCO/PERU. 


130 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


great  stores  of  gold  and  precious  stones  into  the  city.  It  held 
at  that  time,  no  doubt,  the  greatest  store  of  treasure  of  any 
city  in  the  world.  When  the  Spaniards  conquered  the  Incas 
they  acquired  over  $100,000,000  of  gold  alone,  besides  the 
other  valuable  treasures  of  the  Inca  temples  in  Cuzco.  One 
fairly  gasps  at  thought  of  this  monumental  loot.  Every  street 
and  alley  in  Cuzco  today  tells  the  story  of  the  power  and  prog- 
ress of  the  Inca  empire,  the  old  walls  of  Incaic  architecture 
forming  the  basis  of  many  of  the  later  buildings. 

The  Prefect  of  Cuzco  arranged  that  my  party  should  have 
horses  belonging  to  the  cavalry  squadron,  and  accompanied  by 
a  guard  of  soldiers,  with  Indians  carrying  our  cameras  and 
kodaks,  we  climbed  the  mountain,  on  whose  summit,  seven 
hundred  and  forty  feet  above  the  city,  are  the  ruins  of  the  Inca 
fortress  of  Sacsahuaman.  The  ascent  is  so  steep  in  places  that 
steps  have  been  cut  to  insure  a  safe  footing.  On  the  way  to 
the  summit  we  passed  the  ancient  palace  of  the  Inca  Pachacu- 


WOMEN   SELLING  WARES  IN  THE 


\ 


PERU  131 

tecs,  and  a  little  beyond  the  High  Priests'  Temple  of  the  Sun. 
Near  the  temple  ruins  is  the  house  once  occupied  by  an  Inca 
medicine  man,  its  walls  showing  today  seven  serpents  carved 
in  relief  on  the  fagade.  There  is  no  explanation  of  how  the 
massive  stones  were  brought  here  to  construct  these  buildings, 
but  it  would  be  interesting  to  know,  for  one  stone  that  I 
measured  on  the  fortress  of  Sacsahuaman  was  thirty-two  feet 
by  twelve  feet  and  very  thick. 

The  theosophical  cult,  I  understand,  claim  to  have  received 
from  the  Mystics  of  India  a  curious  explanation  of  how  this 
seemingly  impossible  feat  was  accomplished.  The  Mystics  say 
that  the  people  of  Egypt,  who  built  the  Pyramids,  and  these 
ancient  Incas  knew  the  secret  of  levitation ;  that  is  to  say,  knew 
how  to  suspend  the  law  of  gravitation.  The  ancient  Egyptians, 
they  assert,  and  the  ancient  Incas  derived  this  secret  from  the 
Atlantean  Mystics,  both  the  Egyptians  and  Incas  having 
sprung,  in  remote  prehistoric  times,  from  that  long-sunken 


ARKET  SQUARE,   CUZCO,   PERU. 


RUINED    ENTRANCE    TO    THE    INCA    FORTRESS    WHERE    PIZARRO's 
BROTHER  WAS  KILLED,  NEAR  CUZCO,  PERU. 


ANCIENT   INCA    FOUNDATION    WALL    IN    CUZCO,    PERU.      THOUGH 
LARGE  AND  IRREGULAR  IN  SHAPE  THE  STONES  ARE  FITTED 
TOGETHER  SO  PERFECTLY  A  KNIFE-BLADE  CANNOT 
BE  INSERTED   BETWEEN   THEM. 


PERU 


133 


continent.  The  theory  is  interesting  mainly  because  it  is  fan- 
tastic, for  we  cannot  prove  or  disprove  it. 

Near  the  fortress  is  a  level  plot  on  which  Cuzco's  modern 
society  dances  every  clear  Sunday  afternoon.  Near  by  are  the 
Rodederos,  great  natural  rocks,  worn  away  at  intervals  to  a 
depth  of  six  inches.  It  was  here  the  Incas  used  to  have  sliding 
races,  the  one  first  reaching  the  bottom  receiving  a  pot  of  gold. 

Like  all  strong  nations  who  feel  too  secure  in  their  power 
and  wealth,  the  Incas  became  lazy  and  unambitious,  so  the 
historians  say,  and  hence  were  easily  conquered  by  the  Span- 
iards. The  real  explanation,  however,  of  their  downfall  was 


MR.  BOYCE  ON  HIS  WAY  TO  INCA  RUINS,  CUZCO,  PERU. 


A  SMALL  SECTION  OF  THE  RUINS  OF  THE  INCA  FORTRESS, 
CUZCO,  PERU. 


PORTION  OF  INCA  FORTRESS  OF  OLLANTAYTAMBO,  NEAR 
CUZCO,  PERU. 


PERU  135 

probably  the  fact  that  the  Spaniards  used  the  terrifice  force  of 
gunpowder  with  which  to  destroy  them.  Had  the  Incas 
known  the  secret  of  gunpowder  as  well  as  they  did  some  other 
useful  secrets,  of  which  we  are  ignorant,  no  doubt  history 
would  record  a  different  story. 

In  Cuzco  today  are  evidences  of  the  grandeur  in  which  the 
Spanish  Viceroys  lived.  One  of  the  leading  merchants  of 
Cuzco  lives  in  the  old  palace  of  the  Marquis  Villambrosa,  the 
first  Viceroy.  It  is  an  extensive  building  with  many  rooms, 
surrounding  a  large  patio,  in  which  today  are  two  old  state 
coaches  whose  panels  still  retain  the  coat  of  arms  of  the 
Villambrosas.  These  coaches  were  drawn  by  four  white  Anda- 
lusian  mules,  and  were  used  by  the  Viceroy  and  his  family 
when  they  traveled. 

In  Inca  times  Cuzco  had  a  population  of  200,000 ;  today  it 
has  a  population  of  20,000;  but  with  the  advent  of  the  railway 
Cuzco  has  experienced  a  mild  "boom,"  and  in  ten  years  should 
have  a  population  of  50,000. 

The  ruins  of  Ollantaytambo,  north  of  Cuzco,  are  most  in- 
teresting. Here  the  sovereigns  of  ancient  Cuzco  had  their 
favorite  summer  residences.  The  ruins  consist  of  a  fortress 
built  on  the  top  of  a  precipice  one  thousand  feet  high,  com- 
manding a  gorge  through  which  the  Urubamba  River  runs  to 
the  Convencion  Valley,  in  the  wild  regions  of  the  Amazon. 
The  fortress  is  built  of  immense  blocks  of  stone  placed  around 


\ 


THE  RODEDEKOS,  THE  INCA  STONE  SLIDING  PLACE. 

/ 


TYPE  OF  INDIANS  WHO  CHEW  COCA  LEAVES,  FROM   WHICH 
COCAINE   IS   MADE,   PERU. 


MR.  GULICK,  SECRETARY  TO  MR.  BOYCE,  SEATED  ON  A  GREAT  STONE 
CALLED  THE  "iNCA  THRONE/'  NEAR  CUZCO,  PERU. 


A  HARNESS  SHOP  IN  ARCADE  OF  PLAZA,  CUZCO,  PERU. 

the  ridge  of  the  precipice,  and  one  reaches  the  fortress  by  a 
winding  stairway  cut  in  the  solid  rock.  Near  the  top  of  this 
stairway  is  a  grotto  known  as  the  "Seat  of  the  Inca's  Daughter." 
In  the  center  of  the  grotto  is  an  altar  six  feet  square,  cut  out  of 
solid  stone,  where  the  Inca  high  priests  performed  the  re- 
ligious rites,  it  is  said,  with  accompanying  human  sacrifice, 
before  the  Emperor  and  his  court  and  the  people,  assembled  on 
the  plains  below.  If  the  ancient  Incas  performed  human  sacri- 
fice, they  seem  in  that  respect  to  have  entertained  a  reverence 
for  the  Creator  as  terribly  profound  as  that  of  the  ancient 
Druids  of  England.  We  can  see  today  the  grooves  on  the 
altar  leading  into  the  basin,  where,  it  is  believed,  the  blood  of 
the  sacrifice  was  received. 

Facing  the  "Seat  of  the  Inca's  Daughter,"  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  plain,  is  another  cliff,  and  in  the  face  of  it  is  a 


138 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


series  of  ledges  with  numerous  small  caves  along  each  one. 
These  were  used  for  political  prisoners  who,  when  condemned 
to  death,  were  let  over  the  top  of  the  precipice  above  by  ropes, 
put  into  one  of  the  cells  and  left  to  die  of  starvation  and  thirst. 
Ordinary  criminals,  so  tradition  says,  were  just  thrown  from 
the  top  of  the  cliff. 

The  governmental  system  of  the  ancient  Incas  seems  to 
have  been  something  like  a  pure  Socialism,  dictated  by  an  abso- 
lute monarchy,  a  most  curious  combination.  In  reverence  for 
their  rulers,  and  in  the  subordination  of  themselves  to 
the  uses  and  purposes  of  the  State,  they  were  not  unlike  the 
Japanese;  in  their  unification  and  absolute  personal  guidance 
by  laws  that  were  both  civil  and  religious  at  the  same  time, 
their  social  structure  was  analogous  to  that  of  the  ancient 
Hebrews.  However  austere  and  faulty,  to  our  own  way  of 
thinking,  may  have  been  their  system  of  life,  it  apparently  con- 


OLD  INDIAN   AND  DAUGHTER,  CUZCO,  PERU. 


PERU 


139 


tained  enough  virtue  to  lift  them  from  barbarism  and  make 
them  finally  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  amazing  ancient  na- 
tions of  which  we  have  historical  knowledge. 


NATIVE  INDIANS  SEATED  ON  THE  STEPS  OF  AN  INCA  RUIN. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


HEADWATERS  OF  THE  AMAZON. 

A  MANUFACTURER  of  witticisms  has  said  that  a  woman 
seldom  pays  much  attention  to  what  her  husband  says  un- 
less he  is  talking  in  his  sleep.  The  obvious  inference  drawn 
from  his  "gem"  is  that  a  wife  is  most  interested  when  a  hus- 
band is  likely  to  divulge  his 
secrets.  Readers,  too,  I  have 
observed,  are  most  interested 
when  a  writer  is  most  frank. 
Hence  I  will  confess  that  con- 
templation of  our  intended  in- 
vestigation of  the  savage  tribes 
of  the  regions  about  the  upper 
sources  of  the  Amazon  River 
was  slightly  disturbing.  Pro- 
spective contact  with  poisoned 
Indian  arrows,  association  with 
head  hunters  and  beings  that  eat 
human  flesh — if  given  a  chance 
— are  apt  to  overexcite  the  irn- 
agination.  Thus  our  party  took 
the  trail  toward  the  headwaters 
of  the  Amazon  with  some  mis- 
giving. 

Fifty-three  tribes  of  Indians, 
speaking  different  dialects,  in- 
habit the  country  about  the 
affluent  rivers  of  the  Amazon 

headwaters.  The  real  source  of  this  king  of  rivers  is  in  the 
higher  Andes  region  of  Peru,  the  river's  fountain  head  being 
a  lake  about  three  miles  across,  called  the  Lauri  Cocha.  At 
first  a  little  stream,  it  descends  the  mountain  slopes  of  the 

140 


INDIAN  MAIDEN  FROM  THE 
AMAZON  HEADWATERS. 


142  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Peruvian  Andes,  and  leaving  them,  penetrates  South  America 
eastward,  flowing  into  the  Atlantic  3,700  miles  away.  Many 
of  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Amazon  are  dangerous  to  travel, 
as  the  banks  and  country  on  both  sides  are  inhabited  by  Indians, 
some  of  whom  are  cannibals,  and  all  of  whom  resent  the  en- 
trance of  the  white  man  into  their  territories. 

Traveling  by  primitive  methods  that  have  endured  in  this 
region  for  centuries,  we  set  out  for  the  upper  Amazon  country, 
from  the  "roof  of  the  world."  Furnished  with  mules  both  as 
pack  animals  and  for  riding,  we  started  along  the  eastern  trail 
toward  the  land  of  the  Chunchos  and  the  Campos  Indians.  It 
was  a  hard  twenty-five-mile  ride  over  a  rough  mountain  trail 
from  Oroya  to  Tarma,  our  first  stopping  place.  Here  we 
found  the  descendants  of  some  of  the  first  Spanish  families 
who  came  to  Peru.  We  stopped  at  a  hotel  called  "The  Grand 
Hotel  of  Europe" — dirty,  smelling  of  onions,  the  beds  with 
wooden  slats,  the  food  greasy  and  full  of  garlic.  But,  oh, 
grandeur !  staring  at  us  from  every  direction  were  large 
mirrors,  there  being  twelve  in  my  two  rooms!  How  many 
there  were  throughout  this  "Grand  Hotel,"  we  did  not  remain 
long  enough  to  ascertain. 

From  Tarma  we  rode  for  a  day  through  an  uncultivated 
country  to  Huacapistana,  where  we  ate  and  slept  in  a  so-called 
hotel,  then  were  off  the  next  morning  at  five  o'clock  for  La 
Merced,  which  we  reached  in  the  late  afternoon  and  found 
ourselves  in  the  hot,  tropical  climate  of  the  Chanchamayo 
River.  We  now  were  at  the  end  of  the  Government  telegraph 
lines,  we  bade  adios  to  the  last  hope  of  communication  with 
actual  civilization  for  some  days  to  follow. 

The  constant  jog,  jog,  jog  of  our  mules  became  very  tire- 
some, and  we  were  glad  in  two  days  to  reach  the  Perene 
Colony,  which  is  an  estate  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  acres 
owned  by  the  Peruvian  Corporation.  Here  we  found  our- 
selves comfortably  housed  and  fed,  and  it  was  exceedingly  good 
to  have  a  rest.  On  this  big  plantation  they  grow  rubber  and 
coffee  and  we  had  our  first  look  at  the  Chuncho  Indians  on 
Sunday  when  they  came  into  the  colony  store  to  trade.  The 
Chunchos  are  all  civilized  to  the  point  where  they  have  lost 
their  savagery,  though  they  carry  their  bows  and  poisoned 


A  ROCKY  ROAD  LEADING  TOWARD  THE  PERENE  COLONY    PERU. 


144  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

arrows,  paint  their  faces,  wear  almost  no  clothing  and  live  in 
bamboo  huts  plastered  with  mud.  They  are  a  shiftless,  worth- 
less lot,  entirely  devoid  of  ambition,  and  live  dirty,  immoral 
lives.  They  have  no  traditions,  few  customs,  and  speak  a  mon- 
grel dialect. 

Beyond  the  Perene  Colony  lies  that  vast  part  of  South 
America  known  as  the  headwaters  of  the  Amazon,  and  the  great 
Amazonian  valley,  which  is  one  of  the  big  things  of  the  uni- 
verse. Leaving  the  last  plantation  of  the  Perene  Colony,  we 
loaded  our  baggage,  supplies  and  selves  onto  native  balsas 
(nothing  but  a  few  bamboo  poles  tied  together  with  tough 
vines)  and  started  down  the  Perene  River.  We  were  in  the 
heart  of  the  montana  (highland)  country  and  among  the 
Campos  Indians,  who  retain  many  of  their  savage  traits,  and 
we  were  advised  not  to  be  startled  if  an  occasional  arrow  should 
whiz  by  our  heads.  One  of  their  customs  is  to  torture  the 
women  or  widows  of  all  their  dead  warriors,  or  sell  them  to 
another  tribe.  In  other  words,  the  female  does  not  count  much 
with  the  Campos.  The  photographs  we  took  will  give  the 
reader  a  clearer  idea  of  how  these  Indians  dress  and  live  than 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  THE  PERENE  COLONY,  PERU. 


10 


146  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

I  can  picture  in  words.  At  night  we.  got  our  tents,  hammocks 
and  mosquito  nets,  and  taking  turns  at  keeping  guard,  slept  as 
well  as  conditions  would  permit. 

In  no  country  can  be  found  a  more  fertile  land,  and  no- 
where have  we  seen  such  a  variety  of  fruit,  or  more  luxuriant 
vegetation.  Wheat,  maize,  rice,  sugar-cane,  cacao,  coffee,  po- 
tatoes and  cocoa  abound,  and  we  found  the  silkworm  flourish- 
ing. The  only  need  of  this  region  is  colonists  and  burro  roads, 
and  the  Government  is  doing  all  in  its  power  to  secure  them. 

We  returned  to  Yapaz  from  our  little  trip  down  the  Perene 
River  and  were  presently  again  astride  our  sure-footed  mules 
and  had  six  days  of  hard  riding  to  Puerto  Yessup  on  the  Pichis 
River.  During  these  days  we  had  not  seen  a  house  or  a  sign 
of  a  white  man's  habitation,  and  had  only  the  Indians,  monkeys, 
parrots,  wonderfully  colored  butterflies  and  fleas  for  company. 

When  it  comes  to  eating,  South  America  has  some  very 
odd  dishes,  which,  however,  when  well  cooked,  will  satisfy  hun- 
gry men.  In  Africa  I  ate  giraffe-tail  soup,  rhino  tongue  and 
ostrich  eggs  all  at  one  meal,  but  it  remained  for  our  Indian 
cook  in  this  tropical  forest  country  to  furnish  parrot  potpie  and 
monkey  stew.  Personally,  I  preferred  only  the  monkey's 
brains,  which  are  quite  good  when  fried,  and  look  and  taste 
more  like  sweetbreads  than  brains.  The  monkeys  are  very 
plentiful  and  it  is  no  trouble  to  shoot  all  of  them  that  you  want. 
They  jump  from  limb  to  limb  and  tree  to  tree,  catching  hold 
mostly  by  their  tails.  Next  to  the  brains  the  hands  of  the 
monkey  are  the  most  palatable.  The  black  monkey,  called 
"Sambo,"  stands  about  two  feet  high,  but  is  not  considered  as 
great  a  delicacy  as  the  red  monkey,  which  is  about  six  inches 
shorter  and  has  a  larger  head.  The  red  monkey  also  has  a 
pouch  under  his  chin  through  which  he  can  give  out  a  peculiar 
sound.  This  pouch  is  regarded  as  a  tidbit  by  the  natives. 
There  are  numerous  smaller  monkeys,  but  we  did  not  find  them 
any  finer  food. 

Parrots  make  good  potpie,  but  it  is  necessary  to  stew  them 
from  eight  to  twelve  hours  to  make  them  tender.  Mixed  with 
rice  and  dried  fruit,  after  being  thoroughly  cooked,  then  al- 
lowed to  cool,  to  be  warmed  up  for  breakfast,  one  has  a  founda- 
tion for  a  hard  day's  work.  In  this  region  all  game  and  fish 


INDIAN  TYPES  OF  THE  AMAZON   HEADWATERS. 

/ 


148 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


must  be  cooked  within  a  few  hours  after  it  is  taken  or  it  will 
spoil.  Nothing  will  last  from  evening  to  morning  unless  it 
has  been  "fired."  We  found  plenty  of  little  red  deer  that 
would  dress  about  fifty  pounds,  but  as  there  is  little  or  no 
grass  and  they  browse  on  leaves,  the  meat  is  not  very  palatable. 
The  monkeys  and  parrots  feed  more  on  nuts  and  seeds,  hence 
the  flesh  is  better. 

The  tapir,  a  waterhog  about  the  size  of  a  small  Jersey  cow. 
and  with  a  hide  as  tough  as  a  young  rhinoceros,  is  fine  food. 
Droves  of  pecarri,  or  small  wild  hogs,  were  plentiful,  and  are 
considered  rather  dangerous  when  in  big  packs.  They  have  in 
one  spot  on  their  backs  a  bunch  of  bristles  at  the  root  of  which 
is  a  deposit  that  must  be  cut  away  as  soon  as  the  animal  is 
killed  or  the  meat  will  become  so  tainted  that  it  cannot  be 
eaten.  There  is  a  large  variety  of  game  birds  to  live  on  if  the 
traveler  can  take  the  time  to  hunt  them.  Only  on  portages 
around  the  rapids  did  I  pay  any  attention  to  them,  and  then 
only  as  we  ran  across  them.  The  largest  of  these  game  birds 


A  SOUTH  AMERICAN  TAPIR. 


149 


A  PECCARY,  THE  WILD  HOG  OF  SOUTH 
AMERICA. 

is  about  the  size  and  shape  of  a  four-months-old  turkey,  but  is 
jet  black.  Its  meat  is  very  white  and  palatable,  if  not  too  old, 
when  it  is  as  tough  as  old  parrot  and  requires  a  whole  day's 
boiling.  The  grouse  are  different  from  our  ruffed  or  pin- 
tailed  kind,  not  being  so  large,  while  their  feathers  are  nearly 
black  and  white. 

Another  delicacy  is  doves'  eggs,  which  are  found  deposited 
in  the  sand  on  the  banks  of  streams.  The  doves  do  not  "set" 
on  their  eggs,  but  let  the  sun  hatch  them  out.  The  eggs  do 
not  have  a  shell  like  our  birds'  eggs,  but  a  tough  film  like  a 
snake  egg.  Canned  goods  spoil  so  quickly  under  the  tropical 
sun,  and  our  Indian  guides  ate  so  much,  that  game  of  all  kinds 
came  in  very  opportunely,  especially  as  the  Indians  understood 
very  well  how  to  prepare  the  different  species  we  shot.  We 
could  have  had  any  quantity  of  tropical  fruit,  but  had  to  be  very 
careful  about  eating  it  on  account  of  the  health  of  our  party, 
We  always  boiled  our  water  and  only  once  did  we  have  any 
fever. 

We  found  canoes  at  Puerto  .Yessup  in  which  we  went  to 
Puerto  Bermudez.  From  there  we  took  a  boat  to  Masisca  on 
the  Pachitea.  On  the  left-hand  bank  of  this  river  live  the 


150  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Cashibos  Indians,  one  of  three  cannibal  tribes  of  Peru,  and 
they  are  the  most  degenerate  of  all  the  Indians  of  South 
America.  We  found  a  Chinaman  in  a  canoe,  who  came  out  to 
our  boat.  He  is  the  only  outsider  or  foreigner  the  Cashibos 
have  allowed  to  live  in  their  territory,  and  when  we  offered 
him  salt  he  refused  and  we  concluded  he  must  have  become 
a  cannibal,  too  (cannibals  eat  no  salt),  although  he  did  not 
refuse  to  eat  the  meat  and  potatoes  we  offered  him.  The 
Cashibos  wear  no  clothes,  shave  their  heads  and  make  war 
on  all  other  tribes. 

My  man-servant,  Charlie,  is  half  South  American  Indian 
and  half  West  Indian  Negro,  and  speaks  English,  Spanish, 
French  and  most  of  the  South  American  Indian  dialects,  and 
in  our  frequent  meetings  with  savages  he  was  invaluable  in  ex- 
plaining that  we  were  on  a  peaceful  journey.  Charlie  carried 
night  and  day  a  machete  (big  knife)  and  he  knew  how.  to  use 
it,  too.  He  had  been  living  five  years  in  Chicago  before  he 
came  with  me.  The  reader  can  make  his  own  deductions. 

Reaching  Masisca  we  were  only  a  few  days'  journey  from 
Iquitos,  where  the  Ucayali  and  Maranon  Rivers  come  together 
and  form  the  Amazon  proper.  While  in  Masisca  we  ate  some 
flesh  of  the  cowfish,  which  is  agreeable  to  the  palate,  the  flavor 
being  between  that  of  beef  and  pork.  The  cowfish  has  a 
smooth  body  with  a  few  scattered  hairs  and  is  of  a  lead  color. 
The  head  is  not  large,  but  terminates  in  a  large  mouth  with 
fleshy  lips  resembling  a  cow's.  Behind  the  head  are  two  power- 
ful oval  fins,  and  just  beneath  them  are  the  breasts  from  which, 
if  pressure  is  applied,  flows  a  stream  of  beautiful  white  milk. 
The  cowfish  is  about  seven  feet  long,  and  its  forward  fins  are 
highly  developed,  resembling  the  human  arm,  and  having  devel- 


A  COWFISH. 


152  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

opments  somewhat  resembling  the  human  fingers.  These  ani- 
mal-fish feed  on  grass  along  the  banks  of  rivers  and  the  margins 
of  lakes. 

We  left  Masisca  in  dugouts  on  the  Alto  Ucayali  River, 
well  outfitted  and  equipped,  with  our  friendly  Indian  guides  and 
paddlers  all  smiles  as  a  result  of  the  presents  we  had  given 
them.  The  Alto  Ucayali  is  a  sluggish  stream,  its  banks  cov- 
ered with  heavy  tropical  vegetation.  We  found  some  of  the 
women  and  children  of  the  cannibal  Cashibos  living  in  this 
region,  having  been  sold  to  the  Campos,  Piros  and  Conibos 
tribes,  which  inhabit  the  territory  along  the  Ucayali  River. 
The  Cashibos  explain  their  cannibal  customs  by  saying  that 
they  eat  the  white  man  in  order  that  they  may  absorb  some  of 
his  qualities  into  their  yellow  bodies.  All  along  the  Upper 
Ucayali  we  found  immense  rubber  forests  and  trees  of  the 
cinchona  bark,  the  well-known  Peruvian  bark  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  quinine.  We  enjoyed  a  good  treat  here,  our  first 
really  palatable  food  in  several  days,  for  our  Indians  brought 
in  some  frogs  that  were  from  twenty-four  to  thirty-six  inches 
long  and  weighing  from  two  to  three  pounds  each.  These  they 
skinned  and  cooked,  not  only  the  hind  legs,  as  we  do,  but 
the  whole  frog,  and  the  flesh  tasted  as  sweet  and  tender  as  the 
best  young  spring  chicken.  After  four  days  of  travel  toward 
the  source  of  the  Upper  Ucayali  we  made  our  camp  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  near  a  small  Indian  village  of  the  Conibos, 
and  sent  Charlie  ahead  with  presents  for  the  chief  and  his 
wives,  and  to  see  if  the  inhabitants  were  friendly.  Charlie  re- 
turned with  messages  of  friendship  and  presents  of  fruit  and 
an  invitation  for  our  party  to  visit  the  village,  which  we  gladly 
accepted.  The  Conibos  have  the  curious  custom  of  tying  their 
wrists  and  ankles  tightly  with  thongs  to  increase,  as  they  claim, 
their  nerve  force.  The  little  village  had  about  one  hundred 
inhabitants,  the  men  being  employed  on  the  big  rubber  plan- 
tations, when  they  were  paid  in  advance.  Experience  has 
taught  them  this,  for  many  times  the  owners  of  the  rubber 
plantations  have  failed  to  pay  the  poor  Indian  his  wages,  and  it 
is  little  wonder  they  are  suspicious  of,  and  often  treacherous, 
in  their  treatment  of  the  white  man. 

We  were  received  in  style  by  the  head  man  of  the  village 


PERU  153 

in  his  bamboo  hut.  He  wore  only  a  bright-colored  cloth 
around  his  loins,  and  on  his  head  a  headdress  made  from  the 
feathers  of  many-colored  birds.  Sitting  on  the  floor  behind 
him  were  his  three  wives,  who  handed  us  at  his  command  coca 
leaves,  which  we  were  invited  to  chew.  All  the  Indians  of  the 
Amazon  country  chew  the  coca  leaf  with  as  much  pleasure  as 
some  Americans  chew  tobacco.  The  coca  leaf  really  has  the 
same  effect  as  a  drug,  as  it  deadens  the  Indian's  intellect,  but  at 
the  same  time  increases  his  capacity  of  endurance  and  strength. 
Cocaine  is  made  from  such  leaves  as  these  people  are  in  the 
habit  of  chewing. 

A  dance  was  arranged  at  night  for  us,  and  the  Indian  men, 
nearly  naked,  with  their  bodies  and  faces  painted  with  different 
colors,  danced  for  nearly  an  hour  to  the  beat  of  a  curious  sort 
of  drum  made  from  the  skins  of  animals. 

We  continued  on  our  journey  in  five  dugouts  manned  by 
twenty  Indians — strong,  lusty  fellows,  who  kept  up  a  low 
humming  sort  of  song  throughout  the  day.  The  days  did 
not  change  much  for  us,  the  scenery  being  the  same,  and  the 
journey  grew  very  monotonous.  It  was  really  a  relief  when 
we  had  to  make  a  portage,  carrying  our  dugouts  and  outfit  over- 
land to  escape  some  impassable  rapid  or  cataract.  We  were  all 
more  or  less  bitten  by  mosquitoes  and  insects,  and  my  man, 
Charlie,  looked  as  if  he  had  the  mumps.  When  we  had  made 
our  camp  in  the  evenings  we  set  our  lines  for  fish,  and  it  was 
seldom  we  did  not  have  a  good  mess  of  the  finny  fellows  for 
supper,  which  we  heartily  enjoyed. 

Upon  our  journey  into  the  headwater  region  of  the  Amazon, 
we  were  extremely  glad  to  meet  a  white  man — Professor  Taylor 
of  Harvard  University,  who  had  lived  among  and  studied  the 
habits  and  lives  of  the  Jivaros  tribe — the  head-hunting  Indians, 
who  live  along  the  Bobonaza  and  Morona  Rivers,  tributaries  of 
the  Amazon,  which  extend  into  Ecuador.  It  was  our  inten- 
tion to  explore  those  rivers,  but  finding  we  could  get  reliable 
information  from  Professor  Taylor  we  concluded  to  abandon 
this  hazardous  trip  and  will  give  the  reader  a  synopsis  of  Pro- 
fessor Taylor's  experience  and  deductions. 

Professor  Taylor  had  explored  those  rivers  twice ;  the  first 
time  with  one  white  companion,  when  neither  knew  the  Ian- 


PERU  155 

guage  or  customs,  and  as  a  result  his  white  companion  was 
shot  from  the  banks  of  the  Bobonaza  River  by  a  poisoned  ar- 
row and  died. 

The  Jivaros  tribe  resents  the  entrance  of  white  men  into 
their  country,  and  on  Professor  Taylor's  second  trip  to  study 
them  it  was  fortunate  that  he  had  acquired  their  dialect,  and 
was  able  to  cure  a  chief's  son  of  a  fever,  or  doubtless  he  would 
never  have  got  out  alive.  The  Jivaros  people  are  the  only 
head-hunting  Indians  of  South  America.  Of  their  peculiar 
and  horrible  practice  of  curing  and  preserving  the  heads  of  the 
enemies  they  kill,  I  gave  an  account  in  my  chapter  on  Ecuador. 
The  Jivaros  live  in  a  constant  state  of  warfare  among  them- 
selves. They  are  not  content  with  tribal  struggles,  but  families 
wage  war  against  families.  These  family  wars  are  brought  on 
by  the  broughas  (witch  doctors).  When  any  one  is  sick  they 
send  for  the  witch  doctor,  and  if  he  can  cure  the  patient  with 
his  herbs,  all  very  well.  But  if  the  patient  has  some  sickness 
he  is  unable  to  cure,  the  witch  doctor  swears  a  member  of  some 
family,  naming  the  family,  has  put  a  chanute  (curse)  on  the 
victim,  whereupon  the  victim's  family  swear  vengeance  against 
the  family  of  the  person  who  has  put  on  the  curse  and  make 
a  midnight  assault  on  their  enemy's  house,  taking  as  many 
heads  as  they  can  get,  thus  creating  a  feud  and  warfare  be- 
tween the  two  families,  which  is  taken  up  by  all  their  relations 
and  continued  sometimes  for  years. 

These  Indians  are  the  most  vigorous  of  all  the  South  Amer- 
ican tribes.  The  men  have  three  or  four  wives,  some  of  whom 
have  been  won  in  combat.  The  older  women,  males  and  male 
infants  captured  in  battle,  have  their  heads  cut  off,  while  the 
young  girls,  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  are  kept  as 
wives  by  the  victors,  and  the  female  children  are  kept  until  they 
are  of  marriageable  age.  Jivaros  women  are  sometimes  very 
pretty,  they  wear  only  a  loin  cloth,  and  the  men  are  very  jealous 
of  them. 

The  world  is  interested  in  the  opening  up  of  water  and  rail 
routes  connecting  the  Amazon  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
Peruvian  Corporation  promised  the  Government  when  it  took 
over  the  State  railroads  that  it  would  furnish  an  outlet  to  the 


m 


PERU  157 

Amazon  under  certain  conditions.  Thus  far  this  corporation 
has  made  surveys  from  Oroya  to  Tarma  only. 

The  Cerro  de  Pasco  Railroad  Company,  controlled  by  the 
Cerro  de  Pasco  Mining  Company,  has  made  surveys  and  esti- 
mates of  the  cost  of  a  road  from  its  line  to  the  navigable 
headwaters  of  the  Amazon.  The  Peruvian  Government  has 
agreed  to  pay  the  interest  on  bonds,  in  addition  to  conceding  a 
large  land  grant,  in  order  to  have  the  road  speedily  constructed. 
It  is  commonly  believed  this  will  be  the  first  company  to  furnish 
connection  between  the  Amazon  waters  and  the  present  rail 
head. 

A  corporation  backed  by  the  great  Krupp  Gun  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  of  Germany,  has  also  made  a  survey  near  the 
northern  boundary  of  Peru,  from  a  fine  harbor  on  the  Pacific 
coast  to  the  navigable  tributaries  of  the  Amazon.  For  making 
the  survey  and  report,  which  were  carefully  prepared,  the 
Peruvian  Government  gave  the  corporation  a  very  valuable 
mining  concession.  Without  question  the  three  corporations 
that  have  made  surveys  are  financially  able  to  construct  lines  of 
railroad,  and  within  ten  years  we  will  doubtless  be  able  to  sail 
up  the  Amazon  to  its  headwaters,  and  cross  over  the  Andes  by 
rail  and  down  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  a  distance  of  about  four 
thousand  five  hundred  miles,  or  make  the  journey  vice  versa. 
Probably  it  would  be  twenty  years  before  such  a  road  would 
pay,  and  at  present  there  are  no  good  commercial  or  traffic  rea- 
sons for  the  road,  but  the  Peruvian  Government  considers  it 
necessary  for  the  development  of  the  country,  and  their  attitude 
is  entirely  justified  by  the  conditions. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
JOURNEYS  IN  SOUTHERN  PERU. 

FROM  Cuzco  to  Arequipa,  Peru,  about  five  hundred  miles, 
there  are  a  number  of  towns  of  some  importance,  and  the 
people  and  buildings  are  such  as  are  characteristic  of  this 
unique  country.  The  market  square,  cathedrals  and  churches 
looked  much  alike,  and  varied  in  proportion  to  the  population 
and  importance  of  the  cities  I  passed  through. 

The  Peru  Southern  Railway  is  under  the  capable  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  H.  A.  McCulloch,  native  of  our  own  Lone  Star 
State,  and  a  past  master  in  the  business  of  managing  railroads. 
When  Mr.  W.  L.  Morkill  took  the  presidency  of  the  Peruvian 
Corporation,  which  owns  all  the  railroads  of  Peru,  he  was 
located  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  where  he  had  been  residing  for 
many  years.  Two  days  after  his  arrival  in  Lima  he  cabled  to 
Mexico  for  Mr.  McCulloch.  That  was  four  years  ago.  The 
six  hundred  miles  of  Southern  Peruvian  Railroad  was  at  that 
time  being  operated  at  a  loss,  the  cost  of  operation  alone  being 
ninety-two  cents  on  each  dollar  of  receipts.  Such  reforms 


A  PACK  TRAIN  LEAVING  FOR  CAJAMARCA,  PERU. 

158 


PERU    .  159 

were  inaugurated  that  in  1910  the  road  was  operated  at  fifty- 
two  cents  on  the  dollar,  leaving  a  handsome  dividend  for  the 
stockholders.  Freight  and  passenger  rates  are  about  the  same 
as  in  the  United  States.  The  roadbed  is  splendidly  kept  up, 
the  rolling  stock  is  in  good  condition,  the  employes  are  loyal 
and  satisfied,  and  the  trains  run  on  time.  It  pays  to  employ 
trained,  scientific  managers,  you  observe. 

The  "branch  lines"  of  the  railroad  are  the  llama  and  burro 
pack  trains.  It  requires  two  hundred  llamas  or  one  hundred 
and  fifty  burros  to  carry  one  carload  of  freight  into  the  inte- 
rior, and  from  every  station  one  may  see  the  "branch  lines"  de- 
part for  their  destination  in  the  mountains,  a  most  novel  and 
picturesque  spectacle.  There  are  some  big  mules  in  this 
Peruvian  country  that  can  carry  from  two  hundred  to  three 
hundred  pounds,  the  heaviest  piece  of  freight  possible  to  pack 
being  six  hundred  pounds,  the  article  being  slung  between  a 
pair  of  mules  which  are  changed  every  two  hours.  This  is 
unique  "railroading,"  but  it  pays  and  is  effective. 

Between  the  high  mountain  ranges  are  fertile  valleys  where 
grass  is  grown  and  cattle,  sheep,  alpacas  and  llamas  are  raised. 
Sugar-cane  is  grown  near  Cuzco  at  an  elevation  of  8,500  feet. 
When  the  Incas  occupied  this  territory  the  population  was 
about  ten  times  what  it  now  is.  No  doubt,  with  time,  the  present 
population  will  be  greatly  increased.  The  mass  of  the  people 
seem  to  be  contented,  and  it  is  quite  evident  that  they  are  happy 
after  their  fashion,  the  majority  of  them  being  barefooted, 
dirty  and  obviously  healthy. 

At  Sicuani  our  train  stopped  for  the  night.  Owing  to  a 
recent  small  revolution  in  this  region  there  was  an  execution  to 
take  place  at  Sicuani  early  the  next  morning,  and  the  natives 
were  greatly  excited.  For  some  reason  our  identity  was  mis- 
understood and  an  angry  crowd  gathered  around  our  private 
car,  which  we  did  not  leave.  The  conductor  wished  to  put  our 
car  in  the  train-shed  with  the  engine  and  other  cars,  but  I  ob- 
jected, remembering  the  disastrous  fate  of  the  Pennsylvania 
militia  at  the  time  of  a  certain  labor  strike  in  Pittsburgh,  so  our 
car  was  left  outside,  and  we  loaded  our  revolvers. 

During  the  night  the  cook  on  the  car,  whose  curiosity  was 
greater  than  his  caution,  went  out.  We  did  not  hear  him 


MINES  OF  LA  FUNDICION,   PERU. 

going,  but  awakened  as  his  foot  touched  the  step  of  the  car  on 
his  return.  As  the  door  opened  he  was  covered  with  two  guns, 
but  our  "boy"  Charlie  stopped  further  belligerent  moves  by 
yelling,  "It's  the  cook!"  It  wasn't  exactly  pleasant  to  fancy 
what  might  have  happened.  All  night  long  a  band  played 
funeral  music,  and  early  next  morning  we  witnessed  the  ex- 
ecution. It  was  a  depressing  occurrence  and  we  were  glad 
when  the  train  pulled  out. 

Quitting  the  train  at  Tirapata,  at  an  elevation  of  about  13,- 
ooo  feet,  we  traveled  over  the  Inca  Mining  Company's  wagon 
road,  passing  the  night  at  Ceatac,  a  station  of  the  mining  com- 
pany at  the  foot  of  an  extinct  volcano,  which  is  reputed  to  be 
22,000  feet  high.  After  passing  what  is  known  as  Acopampa 
Bridge,  flowers,  shrubs  and  vegetation  in  general  began,  and 
from  there  to  the  Inambari  River  the  trip  became  a  most  en- 
joyable one.  At  Casahuri  we  found  a  coffee  plantation  belong- 
ing to  the  Inambari  Para  Rubber  estate,  at  an  elevation  of 
about  4,500  feet  above  sea  level.  From  there  we  proceeded  to 
Port  Seddon,  which  is  the  camp  and  shipping  yard  of  the 
Inambari  Gold  Dredging  Concessions,  Limited,  where  opera- 
tions were  soon  to  begin.  According  to  William  Bach,  who 
was  sent  out  to  examine  and  report  on  the  Inambari  River, 
prior  to  the  formation  of  the  gold  company,  the  average 
dredgable  values  taken  from  surface  pannings  were  over  $1.75 
to  the  cubic  yard.  This  company,  which  has  three  hundred 
miles  of  the  river  leased,  was  organized  by  Mr.  George  W. 
11 


162  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Sessions,  an  old  California  miner,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
company  has  one  of  the  richest  mining  concessions  in  the  entire 
world. 

Placer  or  alluvial  gold  is  found  in  small  quantities  in  almost 
all  the  streams  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Andes.  These  placer 
deposits  are  at  present  washed  indifferently  and  in  a  crude 
manner  by  the  Indians,  who  trade  their  gold  to  traveling  mer- 
chants for  cloth  and  other  commodities.  Another  company, 
organized  with  British  capital,  will  soon  have  several  hydraulic 
giants  in  operation,  by  means  of  which  powerful  streams  of 
water  will  be  made  to  wash  the  gravel  from  its  resting  place  in 
the  high  banks  into  sluice  boxes  where  the  gold  will  be  caught 
on  riffles  and  mercury.  This  company  claims  that  they  have 
millions  of  yards  of  gravel  averaging  forty  cents  gold  per  cubic 
yard.  Much  depends  upon  the  results  obtained  by  these  two 
companies,  and  should  success  crown  their  efforts,  which  is 
justly  due  these  pioneers,  the  future  of  Peru's  placer  gold  min- 
ing industry  will  be  assured,  since  there  are  many  thousands  of 
acres  of  ground  that  might  be  profitably  worked  by  such 
methods. 

While  on  the  subject  of  mining,  a  glance  at  the  industry  in 
Peru  may  be  appropriately  introduced  at  this  point.  I  investi- 
gated the  subject  with  a  practical  mining  engineer  from  Minne- 


SCENE  IN  THE  MARKET  SQUARE 

\ 


PERU 


163 


apolis,  Minnesota,  and  the  following  mining  data  can  be  relied 
upon.  In  1910  Peru  produced  25,000  long  tons  of  pure  copper, 
valued  at  approximately  $7,300,000.  Seventy-five  per  cent  of 
this  production  may  be  credited  to  the  Cerro  de  Pasco  Mining 
Company.  Backus  and  Johnson,  operating  a  smelter  at  Casa- 
palca,  on  the  Peruvian  Central  Railway,  provided  2,000  tons  or 
about  eight  per  cent  of  Peru's  1910  copper  output,  and  the 
remaining  seventeen  per  cent  was  derived  from  various  small 
private  smelting  concerns  throughout  the  republic,  and  from 
raw  ores  shipped  directly  to  the  United  States  and  Europe  for 
treatment. 

All  the  ores  treated  in  the  country  are  smelted  either  in 
reverberatory  or  blast  furnaces,  the  resultant  product  being 
metallic  copper  or  matte.  The  former,  technically  known  as 
"blister  copper,"  is  shipped  to  and  refined  electrolytically  in 
New  Jersey,  when  it  is  ready  for  the  market  in  its  purest  form. 
The  matte  is  a  sulphide  of  iron  and  copper  and  is  usually 
shipped  and  sold  as  such  in  the  United  States,  where  it  is  again 
melted  and  subjected  to  a  process  known  as  "converting,"  the 
product  being  "blister  copper"  which  is  treated  as  above  de- 
scribed. Any  precious  metals  contained  in  the  "blister  copper" 
or  "matte"  are  recovered  separately  and  treated  by  a  special 
process. 


F  SICUANI,  PERU. 


164  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE  MULE  MARKET,   HUANCAYO,  PERU. 


As  most  of  the  known  copper  deposits  of  Peru  are  situated 
in  the  mountains  and  long  distances  from  the  coast,  the  develop- 
ment of  that  branch  of  the  mining  industry  depends  upon  the 
building  of  railroads.  Labor  is  exceedingly  cheap,  a  native 
Indian  miner  receiving  fifty  cents  per  day,  and  considering  the 
price,  his  work  is  fairly  efficient.  Climatic  conditions  in  the 
extreme  high  altitudes  are  generally  severe,  but  foreigners, 
providing  they  do  not  play  alcohol  against  nature,  withstand  the 
conditions  admirably,  once  they  are  acclimated. 

After  all,  the  romance  of  Peru  is  "silver."  Silver  it  was 
that  the  first  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  mined,  over  two  hun- 
dred years  ago,  and  it  was  silver  that  tempted  those  bold 
English  pirates,  who  followed  like  hawks  the  Spanish  galleons 
loaded  with  the  precious  metal,  and  finally,  too  much  silver 
from  Peru  was  probably  the  real  cause  of  Spain's  decadence. 
In  those  old  days,  before  Peru  was  a  republic,  there  existed 
a  law  requiring  all  miners  to  deliver,  free  of  expense,  a  fifth 
of  their  product  to  the  crown.  This  was  known  as  the  Quinta 


PERU 


165 


del  Rey,  and  many  are  the  tales  of  "graft"  that  is  said  to 
have  been  perpetrated  by  the  royal  agents  when  those  untold 
millions  were  shipped  to  the  mother  country. 

However,  today,  the  silver  industry  is  but  a  specter  of  what 
it  was  in  the  times  of  the  early  Viceroys,  and  the  present  an- 
nual production  is  but  a  small  fraction  of  that  obtained  two 
hundred  years  ago.  The  Cerro  de  Pasco  Company's  ore  con- 
tains some  silver,  for  this  district  was  the  most  noted  producer 
of  the  metal  in  Peru,  and  in  1910  this  country,  due  to  their 
smelting  operations,  contributed  2,300,000  ounces  with  a  value 
of  $1,150,000. 

The  few  small,  scattering  mines  in  the  republic,  operating 
solely  for  silver,  usually  employ  what  is  known  as  the  lixiviat- 
ing or  hypo-sulphite  process.  Sulphide  or  refractory  ores  are 
first  roasted  with  salt  in  reverberatory  furnaces,  fired  with  the 
guano  or  excrement  of  the  llama  (an  ideal  and  generally 
the  only  available  fuel  in  the  barren  mountains),  which  converts 
the  silver  in  the  ore  into  a  soluble  chloride.  Thence  the  ore  is 
treated  in  small  wooden  or  stone  tanks  with  liquid  hypo- 
sulphite of  soda,  and  when  the  solution  of  the  silver  is  com- 


v  im 


MARKET  AND  FAIR  AT  HUANCAYO,   PERU. 


1 66  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

plete,  it  is  precipitated  as  silver  sulphide,  and  either  shipped  as 
such  to  European  refineries  or  melted  directly  into  silver  bars. 

A  small  quantity  of  raw,  high-grade  silver  ore  is  exported 
annually,  but  as  the  ore-bearing  veins  are  usually  extremely 
narrow  and  the  properties  far  from  railways,  the  profit  derived 
is  small. 

While  Peru  has  been,  essentially,  a  silver  and  copper  coun- 
try I  have  found  very  little  evidence  of  her  importance  as  a 
gold  producer.  Some  historians  even  claim  that  the  vast  golden 
treasures  of  the  Incas,  known  to  have  been  in  existence  in  Caja- 
marca  and  Cuzco,  and  much  of  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Spanish  conquerors,  came  from  Colombia,  which  has  always 
been  noted  as  a  gold  country. 

In  truth,  there  is  not  one  company  of  note  in  Peru  now 
producing  gold.  The  Cerro  de  Pasco  Company  (an  exception) 
contributed  almost  the  entire  output  for  1910,  about  11,500 
ounces  valued  at  $230,000,  and  this  was  practically  produced  as 
a  by-product. 

The  "Santo  Domingo,"  a  quartz  mine,  equipped  with  a 
stamp  mill  and  cyanide  plant  in  the  Sandia  district,  though  con- 
trolled by  American  capital,  and  which  has  produced  several 
million  dollars  of  gold,  was  lying  idle.  But  in  the  same  district 
the  "Montebello,"  a  native  company,  was  developing  several 
promising  veins  from  which  beautiful  specimens  of  native  gold 
have  been  taken  and  the  company  is  contemplating  the  erection 
of  a  stamp  mill. 

Arequipa,  with  60,000  inhabitants,  is  the  second  city  of  im- 
portance in  Peru.  It  lies  in  a  fertile  valley  one  hundred  and 
seven  miles  from  the  coast  and  is  the  headquarters  of  the 
Southern  Railway  of  Peru,  the  railroad  shops,  in  which  five 
hundred  men  are  employed^  being  located  there.  Northeast 
of  the  city  is  beautiful  Mt.  Misti,  towering  skyward  20,000  feet, 
snow  capping  its  top  with  gleaming  white  throughout  the  entire 
year.  Harvard  University  has  astronomical  and  meteorologi- 
cal observatories  near  Arequipa,  the  meteorological  station 
being  the  highest  in  the  world — 16,280  feet  above  sea  level,  or 
2,000  feet  higher  than  Pike's  Peak.  Tramways  connect  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  city,  which  is  lighted  by  electricity  and  has  a 
good  telephone  service.  Its  hotels  are  very  bad,  but  there  is  a 


1 68 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE  CRATER  OF  MOUNT  MISTI,  PERU. 

restaurant  run  by  an  Italian,  whose  name  is  Morisini,  where  I 
got  the  best  dinner  I  had  in  a  public  restaurant  while  in  Peru. 

The  Jesus  Springs,  near  Arequipa,  are  famous  the  world 
over  for  curing  gout  and  rheumatism,  and  people  from  every 
section  of  civilization,  who  can  afford  the  trip,  come  here  to 
drink  the  water  and  bathe  in  the  springs.  Some  marvelous 
cures  have  been  made,  and  as  the  water  is  bottled  by  a  local 
company  it  will  soon  be  exported  to  Europe  and  the  United 
States. 

The  buildings  of  Arequipa  are  in  most  part  constructed  of  a 
light-colored,  porous,  volcanic  stone,  brought  from  quarries 
near  by.  The  walls  of  the  buildings  are  often  three  to  six 
feet  thick,  and  windows  facing  the  street  are  protected  with 
iron  bars.  They  look  as  if  built  to  resist  earthquake  shocks. 


THE    HARVARD    COLLEGE    OBSERVATORY,     NEAR    AREQUIPA,    PERU. 
MOUNT  MISTI  IN   THE  BACKGROUND. 


PERU 


169 


Since,  ultimately,  the  rubber  industry  of  Peru  promises  to 
be  very  great,  and  since  the  development  of  the  automobile,  and 
many  other  inventions,  makes  the  demand  for  rubber  enormous 
throughout  the  world,  a  brief  resume  of  Peru's  resources  in 
the  way  of  this  commodity  may  prove  valuable  to  some  readers. 

There  are  three  things  necessary  to  make  the  rubber  in- 
dustry of  Peru  one  of  the  most,  if  not  the  most,  important 
industry  of  the  country.  These  are  effective  means  of  trans- 
portation (railroads,  cart  roads  and  burro  roads),  capital  for 
development,  and  the  necessary  labor,  with  the  proper  men  to 
handle  and  manage  the  same.  The  great  rubber  territory  of 
Peru  is  embraced  by  the  Madre  de  Dios  (Mother  of  God), 
Tambopata,  Tambari,  Heath  and  Ucayali  Rivers. 

The  Government  has  made  large  grants  or  concessions  to 
companies  and  individuals  in  the  rubber  territory,  and  in  most 
part  these  companies  or  individuals  have  only  to  build  a  cart  or 
burro  road  to  comply  with  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment to  make  the  grants  perpetual.  Rubber  properties  may 
be  bought  outright  from  the  Government  for  one  dollar  a 
hectare  (about  two  and  one-half  acres),  or  an  individual  may 


NATIVES  SMOKING  RUBBER  IN  RUBBER  DISTRICT,  INTERIOR  PERU. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


export  rubber  from  Government  land  by  paying  five  cents  per 
acre  rental  per  annum. 

The  value  of  a  rubber  "estate"  is  figured  by  the  number  of 
laborers  that  can  be  obtained,  not  by  the  number  of  rubber 
trees,  and  at  present  labor  is  undoubtedly  scarce  in  the  country. 
Some  writers  have  said  that  the  Indians  of  the  interior  rubber 
country  are  man-eaters  and  impossible  as  workmen.  I  find  this 
a  misstatement.  There  are  Indians  in  the  rubber  forests,  who, 
properly  managed  and  treated  with  kindness  and  tact,  make  as 
fine  laborers  as  can  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world.  The  trou- 
ble has  been  that  white  men  have  gone  into  some  of  the  rubber 
districts  and  ill-treated  the  Indians ;  naturally  these  red  people 
have  sometimes  been  savage  and  resentful. 

This  is  a  common  phase  of  human  experience ;  well-intend- 
ing men  have  always  had  to  suffer  loss  and  restrictions  of  f ree- 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE 


\ 


PERU 


171 


dom  by  reason  of  the  wrong  things  done  by  the  mean  and 
and  foolish.  An  acquaintance  of  mine  who  is  very  bald  once 
sat  reading,  while  a  half-dozen  flies  were  skating  across  and 
having  a  good  time  upon  his  shining  bald  crown.  He  gave  them 
no  heed,  until  finally  one  of  the  flies  bit  him,  when  he  reached  up 
his  hand  and  brushed  them  off  impatiently.  "There,"  he  said, 
"of  course  you  couldn't  enjoy  a  good  thing  when  you  had  it; 
one  of  you  had  to  bite  me  and  spoil  the  whole  game ;  now  you 
all  have  got  to  quit  and  get  off  the  skating-rink,"  and  he  aimed 
another  slap  at  them  that  sent  them  flying.  The  moral  is  ob- 
vious. 

The  first  thing  a  capable  and  knowing  manager  does  in 
taking  charge  of  a  rubber  estate  is  to  plant  rice,  bananas,  maize 
and  yuca  (a  kind  of  large  potato)  to  insure  food  for  his  labor- 
ers, and  as  the  land  is  very  fertile,  this  is  a  quick  and  easy 


]  LAZA  OF  AREQUIPA,   PERU. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


INDIAN   WOMEN    SELLING  CARVED  IMAGES, 
JULIACA,   PERU. 

proposition.  Some  estates  have  imported  Japanese  workmen, 
but  it  is  said  they  are  impossible  in  the  rubber  forests.  They 
destroy  the  trees,  are  unclean  in  their  habits  and  demoralize  the 
Indians  with  whom  they  come  in  contact.  The  destruction  of 
the  trees  is  a  very  serious  matter,  for  it  is  entirely  unnecessary. 
As  it  requires  fifteen  years  for  a  tree  to  reach  full  maturity, 
their  ruthless  slaughter  removes  the  industry  farther  and 
farther  away  from  transportation. 

My  attention  was  particularly  called  to  the  Tambopata  Rub- 
ber Syndicate's  great  rubber  territory  at  the  headwaters 'of 
the  Tambopata  River.  This  company  has  been  the  most  suc- 
cessful in  Peru  in  obtaining  labor  and  rubber,  and  its  success 
is  due  to  the  experience  and  management  of  Mr.  Arthur  C. 
Lawrence,  who  has  supervised  rubber  estates  in  Mexico  and 
Bolivia.  The  company  is  an  English  syndicate,  and  until  re- 
cently its  properties  were  in  Bolivia,  but  with  the  readjustment 
of  the  Peru-Bolivia  boundaries,  the  concession  became  a  part  of 
Peru. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  rubber  obtained  in  Peru,  the  hevea 
(the  best  Para)  and  the  castilloa  (or  concha,  as  it  is  improperly 
called  by  the  Indians).  The  trees  are  tapped  (cut)  by  men 


PERU 


173 


called  tappers,  every  day  except  Sunday  and  feast  days,  during 
the  season  of  seven  months.  Each  workman  taps  from  one 
hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  trees  a  day.  The  tappers  are 
paid  from  thirty-five  to  forty  cents  per  pound  for  fine,  or  hevea, 
rubber.  The  cost  of  a  quintal  (100  pounds)  of  rubber  de- 
livered in  Europe  is  seventy-five  dollars,  or  seventy-five  cents  a 
pound,  and  as  it  is  sold  for  over  a  dollar  a  pound,  you  see  there 
is  a  big  profit  the  industry,  notwithstanding  the  great  diffi- 
culty of  getting  it  out  of  the  forests  of  Peru. 

Mollendo  is  the  coast  terminal  of  the  Southern  Railway  of 
Peru.  The  town  is  built  upon  a  rock  one  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea  and  has  a  population  of  5,000  people.  The  port  has  a 
pier  about  three  hundred  and  thirty  feet  long  and  two  five-ton 
steam  cranes,  but  it  is  necessary  to  load  and  discharge  cargoes 
by  means  of  lighters.  Water  for  domestic  and  other  purposes 
is  obtained  from  the  Chile  River,  eighty-five  miles  away  and 
7,275  feet  above  sea  level.  The  water  is  brought  to  the  town 
through  an  eight-inch  iron  pipe  belonging  to  the  railway  com- 


pany. 


Mollendo  is  a  submarine  cable  station*,  and  has  communica- 


STONE    BRIDGE    OVER    CHILE    RIVER,    AREQUIPA,    PERU.        MOUNT 
MISTI   IN   BACKGROUND. 


174  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


INTERIOR  OF  LA   MERCED   CHURCH,   ARE'QUIPA,    PERU. 

tion  by  steamer  with  ports  on  the  western  coast  of  South 
America,  and  with  San  Francisco,  New  York  and  European 
ports.  Wireless  telegraph  stations  have  been  established  in 
Peru  connecting  the  principal  points ;  an  aviation  school  under 
the  direction  of  the  Government  has  been  inaugurated ;  a  com- 
prehensive scheme  to  encourage  emigration  to  the  far  interior 
valleys  has  the  sanction  and  aid  of  the  State  authorities, . and 
students  are  being  sent  to  the  great  educational  institutions  of 
the  United  States  in  numbers,  some  with  free  scholarships  pro- 
vided by  the  Peruvian  Government.  These  are  a  few  examples 
of  the  spirit  of  progress  that  is  abroad  in  Peru. 

The  expression  "Church  and  State"  would  better  explain 
Peru's  condition  if  it  were  reversed  to  "State  and  Church." 
For  nearly  three  hundred  years  the  Catholic  Church  was 
supreme  in  matters  of  State,  but  that  time  has  passed.  A 
highly-educated  and  broad-minded  Christian  gentleman  of  one 
of  the  leading  families  of  Peru  expressed  the  situation  to  me 
as  follows : 

"The  Catholic  Church  still  receives  some  financial  support 


176  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

from  the  Government,  but  its  political  power  is  fast  disappear- 
ing. Several  bishops  are  members  of  Congress,  being  elected 
by  the  voters  of  their  districts,  and  they  exercise  considerable 
influence  on  legislation.  The  churches  are  not  so  well  attended 
as  formerly,  women  and  children  being  the  most  constant  in 
attendance.  Once  each  year,  every  man,  woman  and  child, 
true  to  the  faith,  devotes  an  entire  day  exclusively  to  public 
religious  duties."  The  Catholic  Church  of  Peru  is  fast  assum- 
ing the  same  relation  to  the  State  that  the  churches  in  the 
United  States  occupy. 

The  future  of  Peru  is  not  difficult  to  forecast.  No  nation 
in  South  America  has  had  so  many  difficulties  to  overcome. 
First,  within  the  age  of  recorded  history,  the  country  was 
wholly  Indian,  under  the  rule  of  the  Inca  worshipers  of  the 
Sun ;  second,  an  Indian  country  under  Spanish  rule,  dominated 
by  a  Christian  (Catholic)  religion,  greedy  for  wealth  and 
power;  third,  a  new  republic  of  mixed  races  and  a  forced  re- 
ligion. The  resources  of  the  country  depended  upon  labor — 
not  always  willing  or  free ;  the  country  was  rent  by  almost  con- 
stant revolutions,  and  though  it  was  rich  in  minerals,  nitrates, 
sugar,  cotton,  rubber,  rare  woods,  cattle,  sheep,  grains  and  all 
tropical  products,  industry  stood  stagnant  while  sectional  feuds 
were  fought.  The  great  war  with  Chile  was  a  blessing  in  dis- 
guise, for  while  it  made  the  rich  poor,  the  strong  weak,  and 
robbed  Peru  of  her  splendid  nitrate  fields,  it  closed  and  healed 
many  of  the  feuds  and  causes  of  revolutions,  and  left  Peru  one 
nation,  one  country,  and  everybody  for  Peru,  and  not  for  them- 
selves. 

Dire  necessity  has  forced  the  Government  to  be  tolerant, 
fair  and  as  unselfish  as  the  most  liberal  country  in  the  world. 
The  men  and  women  of  the  leading  families  are  cultured,  edu- 
cated and  generous ;  many  of  them  speak  English  and  French 
as  well  as  Spanish,  and  while  their  homes  are  exclusive,  their 
hospitality  is  the  most  genuine  I  have  ever  experienced.  Their 
laws  are  fair  to  foreigners,  and  are  enforced,  and  capital  is  se- 
cure and  protected.  With  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
Peru  will  sustain  a  closer  relation  with  the  United  States,  and 
we  will  become  close  neighbors  and  better  friends. 


BOLIVIA 


Area,  estimated  at  709,000  square  miles,  or  about  the  size  of 
France,  Belgium  and  Holland  combined,  and  a  little  smaller 
than  Mexico — Third  republic  in  size  in  South  America — 
Population,  about  2,300,000,  of  which  only  one-fifth  are 
white,  the  remainder  being  Indians  and  mixed  races — 
Large  producer  of  silver,  tin,  copper  and  rubber — Exports 
(1010)  $22,700,000,  imports  $14,775,000 — La  Paz  nominal 
capital,  population  80,000 — Standing  army  2,500,  subject 
to  service  in  time  of  war  240,000. 

CHAPTER  X. 

BOLIVIA  AND  THE  WORLDS  OLDEST  CITY. 

BOLIVIA  was  named  for  Bolivar,  the  Liberator.  Its 
earlier  and  later  history  is  of  a  like  character  with  that  of 
Peru,  save  that  it  is,  if  possible,  a  still  more  dramatic  and  terri- 
ble story.  Bolivia's  history,  of  which  there  is  actual  chronicle, 
began  in  the  days  when  the  great  Inca  brothers,  Huascar  and 
Atahualpa,  were  contending  for  the  mastery.  The  strife 
of  those  wars  was  succeeded  by  the  years  of  carnage  embodying 
the  Spanish  conquest,  and  after  that  by  long  decades  of 
slavery  to  the  Castilian  tyrants.  Follow- 
ing this  dreadful  era  came  the  wars  of 
Bolivar,  and  Bolivia  became  the  central 
battle-ground  of  one  of  the  fiercest  and 
most  protracted  revolutionary  struggles 
of  which  we  have  any  knowledge. 

When,  after  fifteen  years  of  war,  the 
Spaniards  at  last  were  overthrown  and 
liberty  was  won,  there  followed  more 
than  a  half-century  of  misrule  under  dif- 
ferent dictators  and  official  scoundrels. 
But  measurable  peace  and  security  finally 
settled  upon  the  Great  Plateau,  and  the 
modern  movement  toward  prosperity  and 
national  greatness  began. 

A  CHOLA  GIRL, 


BOLIVIA. 


12 


177 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


MR.   BOYCE,  MR.   HORACE  G.   KNOWLES,  UNITED  STATES   MINISTER 
TO  BOLIVIA,  AND  MR.  GULICK. 

In  its  physical  features  Bolivia  is  very  distinguished.  No 
other  country,  as  a  whole,  rises  quite  so  near  the  sky,  unless 
it  is  Thibet,  China.  The  major  part  of  the  population  live 
their  lives  in  the  rarefied  atmosphere  of  12,000  feet  above  sea 
level.  Piercing  the  heavens  from  Bolivia's  enormous  plateau, 
rise  the  greatest  number  of  lofty  mountains  found  in  any 
country,  save  northern  India.  This  cloud-kingdom  has  been 
aptly  compared  to  Switzerland  by  an  appreciative  writer. 
He  says: 

"Bolivia  is  the  third  largest  of  the  South  American  repub- 
lics, and,  like  Switzerland,  must  be  entered  through  foreign 
territory,  for  since  the  last  war  with  Chile  she  has  had  no 
outlet  to  the  sea  over  her  own  territory.  But  Bolivia  shares 
with  Switzerland  the  advantages  of  a  mountainous  country, 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  LAKE  TITICACA. 


difficult  of  access  by  enemies,  and  capable  of  rearing  and 
sustaining  a  sturdy  race  of  progressive,  liberty-loving  people. 

"Infinitely  behind  Switzerland  in  education,  stable  civil 
government,  refinement  and  cleanliness  of  the  people,  it  is 
yet  like  Switzerland  in  present  day  prosperity,  while  its  re- 
sources are  infinitely  beyond  Switzerland's,  if  only  they  were 
developed.  Bolivia  is  a  Switzerland  of  loftier  Alps,  larger 
lakes,  and  far  more  extensive  table-lands,  a  Switzerland  with 
silver,  copper,  and  tin  in  unlimited  quantities ;  a  Switzerland 
that  can  produce  rubber,  cacao,  and  quinine  as  can  no  other 
land,  were  these  riches  fully  developed;  a  Switzerland  where 
every  product  of  the  temperate  or  tropical  zone  will  flourish." 

I  came  to  Bolivia  by  rail,  arriving  at  Puno,  on  the  Peru- 
vian side  of  Lake  Titicaca,  at  six-thirty  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing, in  the  midst  of  a  heavy  rainstorm.  One  half  of  Lake 
Titicaca  is  in  Peru,  and  the  other  half  in  Bolivia,  which  fact 
gives  rise  to  the  saying  among  the  Peruvians  that  "Titi  be- 
longs to  us,  while  Caca  belongs  to  the  Bolivians." 

This  lake,  which  is  the  highest  navigable  body  of  water 
in  the  world,  is  situated  12,500  feet  above  sea  level,  and  the 
boat  on  which  we  were  to  cross  the  lake  to  Bolivia  was 
brought  from  Europe  in  parts  by  sea,  and  from  the  coast  up 
to  the  Great  Plateau  by  rail,  and  put  together  on  the  shore 
of  the  lake.  Lake  Titicaca  is  the  largest  lake  in  South  Amer- 


i8o 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


ica,  being  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  miles  in  length  and  hav- 
ing an  average  width  of  forty-four  miles.  Its  water  is  always 
icy  cold,  and  a  curious  fact  about  it  is  that  no  metal,  even 
iron  or  steel,  will  rust  in  it.  This  large  body  of  water  is  an 
irregular  oval  in  shape,  having  many  bays  along  its  coast, 
and  in  its  interior  are  eight  large  and  fifteen  small  islands. 
The  outlet  of  Lake  Titicaca  is  the  Desaguadero  River,  which 
flows  into  Lake  Poopo,  another  large  lake  wholly  in  Bolivia. 
Lake  Poopo  lies  12,000  feet  above  sea  level,  is  about  the  size 
of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  and  has  no  visible  outlet. 

We  were  met  at  the  boat  by  Mr.  Fairweather,  general 
manager  of  boats  and  traffic  on  Lake  Titicaca,  who  saw  that 
we  were  given  comfortable  quarters  aboard  the  Inca  Queen, 
to  give  the  boat  its  English  name.  We  were  up  early  the  fol- 
lowing morning  to  see  some  of  the  beauties  of  the  lake  and 
surroundings.  It  was  cold,  due  to  the  wind  sweeping  down 
from  the  glaciers  topping  the  mountains  on  either  side  of  the 
lake,  and  we  were  glad  to  put  on  our  overcoats. 

On  the  shores  of  Lake  Titicaca  are  the  ruins  of  large 
buildings  erected  by  a  race  that  inhabited  this  region  before 
the  rise  of  the  Incas.  There  is  a  legend  that  these  people 
were  the  progeny  of  the  South  American  Adam  and  Eve,  who 
lived  in  the  prehistoric  Garden  of  Eden  on  the  beautiful 
Ida  del  Sol  (Island  of  the  Sun),  in  Lake  Titicaca.  Accord- 
ing to  the  tradition,  Adam  and  Eve  lived  here  for  thousands 
of  years,  their  children  emigrating  to  the  lands  beyond  the 


ON    LAKE    TITICACA,    BOLIVIA. 


1 82 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


mountains.  At  one  time,  so  the  Indian  story  goes,  Adam 
became  incensed  at  some  of  his  children  in  the  interior,  and 
taking  a  great  slungshot,  fired  a  heavy  granite  stone  in  the 
direction  of  his  bad  children.  The  great  stone  struck  the 
side  of  a  mountain,  tearing  a  big  slice  from  it,  which  in  fall- 
ing, destroyed  the  rebellious  children. 

We  arrived  at  Guaqui  at  ten-thirty  o'clock,  and  owing  to 
the  courtesy  of  the  Bolivian  minister  in  Lima,  who  had  given 
me  a  letter  to  the  captain  of  the  port,  our  baggage  was  al- 
lowed to  pass  through  the  custom  house  without  inspection. 
We  were  met  at  Guaqui  by  Mr.  J.  Pierce  Hope,  the  general 
manager  of  the  railroad  from  Guaqui  to  La  Paz,  with  whom 
we  started  in  his  private  car  on  our  journey  to  La  Paz,  the 
capital  of  the  republic  of  Bolivia. 

Our  car  was  sidetracked  at  Tiahuanaco,  dubbed  the  old- 
est city  in  the  world,  so  that  we  might  view  and  take  photo- 
graphs of  the  old  pre-Inca  ruins,  and  on  our  journey  about 
the  place  we  were  followed  by  a  curious  group  of  Indians 
and  their  dogs.  We  walked  through  the  old  burying  ground 
of  the  pre-Inca  people,  and  found  it  much  like  a  dumping 
ground.  Archeologists  have  excavated  here  and  have  turned 


ON  THE  STEPS  OF  THE  SUN  TEMPLE,  TIAHUANACO,  BOLIVIA. 


BOLIVIA 

up  thousands  of  pre-Inca 
bones,  which  we  found 
lying  all  about.  I  picked 
up  a  large  thigh  bone, 
which  had  likely  been  of 
great  service  to  its  owner 
centuries  ago,  and  hit  one 
of  the  mongrel  dogs,  as  it 
was  snapping  at  my  heels. 
But  it  had  no  effect.  The 
occurrence  suggested  to  me 
the  old  adage:  "You  can't 
make  a  dog  yelp  by  hitting 
him  with  a  bone." 

It  is  interesting  to  note 
the  construction  of  the  pre- 
Inca  foundations  and  to 
marvel  at  the  huge  granite 
stones  so  nicely  and  evenly 
put  together.  Studying  the 
topography  of  the  sur- 
rounding country,  I  con- 
cluded that  these  great 
stones  must  have  been 
brought  from  the  moun- 
tains by  water,  through 
channels  constructed  by  this  prehistoric  race.  The  railroad 
has  taken  out  five  hundred  carloads  of  stone  from  Tiahua- 
naco  to  construct  bridges  along  its  line,  but  none  of  these 
stones  has  an  inscription  on  it.  There  are  four  large  stone 
steps  leading  to  a  head  step,  which  is  a  huge  single  hewn 
stone  32x16  feet,  and  on  each  side  of  it  are  two  heavy  pillars. 
This  is  supposed  to  be  the  entrance  to  the  court  of  the  temple 
that  the  prehistoric  people  here  built  to  the  Sun.  All  around 
are  curious  stone  figures  with  strange  inscriptions  on  them. 
Archeologists  tell  us  that  in  Tiahuanaco  flourished  the  most 
advanced  of  the  ancient  American  civilizations. 

In  this  quarter  of  Bolivia  we  found  the  Aymara  Indians, 
descendants  of  a  people  conquered  by  the  Incas  just  before 


FRAGMENTS  OF  A  PRE-INCA  RUIN. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


the  coming  of  the  Spaniards.  It  is  very  cold  in  Tiahuanaco, 
but  the  natives  do  not  seem  to  mind  it ;  they  go  barelegged, 
but  keep  their  heads  warm,  tying  bands  of  cloth  woven  from 
llama  wool  over  their  hair  under  their  hats. 

After  our  inspection  of  the  ruins,  our  car  was  attached 
to  a  special  engine,  and  we  were  whirled  away  toward  La 
Paz.  We  arrived  at  Alto  La  Paz,  about  14,000  feet  above 
sea  level,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  our  car  was 

attached  to  an  electric  en- 
gine, for  we  had  to  descend 
1,500  feet  into  the  valley, 
where  lies  the  city  of  La 
Paz.  I  shall  never  forget 
my  first  view  of  the  highest 
capital  in  the  world  as  we 
came  up  to  it  in  the  night. 
It  looked  like  a  picture  in 
Fairyland,  as  it  lay  spread 
out  in  the  valley  below, 
illuminated  by  thousands 
of  electric  lights,  and  high 
above  all,  shining  like  a 
beacon,  the  great  arc  light 
on  the  monument  erected 
to  Pedro  Murillo,  the  first 
Bolivian  patriot  to  shout, 
"Viva,  Bolivia !"  and  advo- 
cate rebellion  against  the 
Spaniards.  Unfortun  ate 
man  !  The  Spaniards  cap- 
tured him  and  cut  off  his 
head!  Nevertheless,  con- 
template free  Bolivia!  It 
is  the  lesson  of  history  that 
every  step  forward  gained 
by  the  human  race  has 
been  won  by  struggle  and 
sacrifice. 

The  valley  in  which  La 


A  MONOLITH  AT  TIAHUANACO, 
BOLIVIA. 


BOLIVIA 


'85 


Paz  lies  is  surrounded  by  mountains,  the  highest  of  which  is 
the  snow-capped  Illimani,  22,500  feet  above  the  sea.  The 
Chuquiyupu  River,  formerly  rich  in  gold,  flows  through  the 
city.  The  construction  of  the  buildings  of  La  Paz  is  exceed- 
ingly substantial.  The  houses  are  of  Spanish  style,  with 
thick  walls  of  stone  or  adobe,  and  roofs  of  terra  cotta  tile. 
The  walls  and  roofs  are  painted  in  variegated  colors,  ranging 
from  solid  red  or  blue  to  the  most  delicate  shades  of  pink  and 
lavender.  The  city  is  very  hilly,  and  one  will  pause  two  or 


MR.    BOYCE    IN    DOORWAY   OF    AN    ALMOST   OBLITERATED    TEMPLE, 
AT  TIAHUANACO,  BOLIVIA,  THE  OLDEST  CITY  IN  THE  WORLD. 


i86 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE  OLDEST  MAN  IN  BOLIVIA,  AND 
A  DIRECT  DESCENDANT  OF  THE 

INCAS. 

hundred  pounds  of  flour  going  up 
a  seventeen  per  cent  grade.  All 
coffins  are  delivered  by  being  car- 
ried on  the  head,  either  "empty  or 
loaded."  To  save  lumber  and  at 
the  same  time  make  a  pillow  in  the 
coffin  they  are  scooped  out  under- 
neath the  head.  Many  coffins  are 
made  from  packing  boxes,  as  lum- 
ber costs  $135  per  1,000  feet. 

There  seem  to  be  no  barred  win- 
dows now  in  Bolivia,  with  sighing 
senoritas  behind  the  bars.  In 
truth,  I  found  that  this  old-time 
Spanish  custom  is  fast  disappearing 
all  over  South  America.  Roller 
skating  and  dancing  were  being  en- 
joyed by  the  "men  and  maids"  of 


three  times  to  get  his 
breath  as  he  climbs  from 
one  street  to  another.  In 
fact,  it  is  so  steep  that  all 
carriages  have  four  horses 
attached. 

They  have  no  earth- 
quakes here,  which  is  for- 
tunate, on  account  of  the 
elevation.  In  this  city 
most  of  the  packages  and 
freight  are  delivered  on 
the  human  back.  I  saw 
one  small  man  with  two 


A  PRE-INCA  STATUE,  BOLIVIA. 


INDIAN    WOMAN    WEAVING  PONCHO,    BOLIVIA. 


AYMARA   WOMEN    LAUNDERING  IN    STREAM,    BOLIVIA. 


1 88 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


La  Paz  when  we  were  there.  My  secretar}^  who  had  led 
many  a  cotillion  in  Washington,  tried  to  dance  every  number 
at  one  of  the  balls,  but  lost  his  heart  to  a  beautiful  maiden — 
a  direct  descendant  of  the  Incas — or  it  may  have  been  to  the 
altitude,  which  is  12,500  feet.  However,  I  think  it  was  the 
soroche  that  captured  him,  for  he  usually  got  over  any  South 
American  love  affair  in  twenty-four  hours,  while  this  attack 
lasted  six  days. 

The  street  cars  in  La  Paz  stop  running  at  seven  p.  m., 
and  there  are  no  theaters.  The  explanation  of  the  latter  con- 
dition is  that  singers  and  actors  coming  into  this  high  alti- 
tude cannot  "catch  their  breaths"  long  enough  to  sing  or  speak 
their  lines  properly. 

The  flour  used  in  Bolivia  is  Americano,  and  is  of  various 
brands,  mostly  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  States.  The  under- 
clothes of  all  but  the  wealthy  class  are  made  from  the  flour 
sacks,  brand  and  all.  Only  the  rich  people  wear  shoes.  A 


PANORAMIC  VIEW  OF  LA  PAZ, 


BOLIVIA 


189 


native  who  lives  to  be  thirty-five  or  forty  years  of  age  is 
considered  quite  old,  as  exposure  and  drink  age  the  people 
very  rapidly.  As  mechanics,  the  men  learn  to  do  one  thing 
and  do  it  apparently  well,  but  from  the  time  they  are  about 
thirty  years  of  age  the  drink  habit  begins  to  degenerate  large 
numbers  of  them,  and  like  all  alcoholized  persons,  they  be- 
come inefficient. 

Living  in  La  Paz  is  said  to  be  more  costly  than  in  any 
other  South  American  city.  My  investigations  convinced  me 
that  here  the  expenses  of  life  were  not  so  very  much  below 
the  high  prices  of  North  American  cities.  The  only  cheap 
commodity  in  La  Paz  is  labor,  which  is  surprising,  in  view  of 
the  cost  of  living.  Common  labor  may  be  had  at  from  thirty 
to  sixty  cents  a  day,  while  skilled  laborers  get  from  seventy- 
five  cents  to  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  a  day's  work. 

The  houses  have  no  chimneys,  as  they  are  never  heated, 
and  all  the  cooking  is  done  outside.  Coal  costs  forty  dollars 


I 


THE  CAPITAL  OF  BOLIVIA. 


BOLIVIA  191 

a  ton  retail  in  La  Paz,  and  it  is  all  brought  from  Australia. 
Needless  to  say,  very  little  of  it  is  used.  The  compost  of  the 
llama  is  mostly  used  for  fuel,  and  one  of  the  interesting 
sights  of  the  city  is  to  watch  the  long  llama  pack  trains  wind- 
ing their  way  into  the  town  and  through  the  streets,  carrying 
loads  of  commodities  from  the  surrounding  country. 

The  city  of  La  Paz  has  a  system  of  underground  drain- 
age. The  population  is  about  80,000.  There  are  three  dis- 
tinct classes  of  people  in  La  Paz — the  pure-blooded  descen- 
dants of  the  Spaniards;  the  Cholos,  half  Spanish  and  half 
Indian ;  and  the  full-blooded  Aymara  Indians.  The  pure- 
blooded  Bolivians  of  Spanish  descent  constitute  the  aristoc- 
racy of  the  country,  and  the  women  have  pretty  faces  and 
big  brown  eyes.  They  dress  much  like  the  women  of  the 
United  States,  except  when  going  to  church,  on  which  occa- 
sions they  wear  black  clothes,  and  the  faces  are  half  hidden 
by  the  mantos  draped  about  the  head.  The  Cholos,  the  half- 
caste  of  Bolivia,  are  a  hard-working,  saving  people.  The 
Aymara  Indians  are  short,  stocky  people,  lazy,  and  in 
most  part,  unambitious.  The  men  wear  trousers  split  at  the 
back  up  to  the  knee  to  give  them  greater  freedom  in  walking 
up  hill,  and  ponchos  (brightly  colored  shawls  through  the 
middle  of  which  the  head  is  stuck)  constitute  their  chief 
adornment.  The  poor  Indian  women  wear  a  scanty  skirt  and 
dirty  shawl,  and  often,  peeking  out  from  the  inside  of  a  sec- 
ond shawl  swung  over  the  shoulders,  is  the  ruddy  face  of  an 
Indian  baby.  The  babies  are  strong  and  seldom  if  ever  cry. 

The  police  in  La  Paz  are  a  fine-looking  lot  of  men,  and 
during  the  night 
they  blow  their 
mournful  whistles 
every  half -hour  to 
let  the  neighbor- 
hood know  that  all 
is  well.  In  Con- 
stantinople the  po- 
licemen beat  on  the 
sidewalk  with  their 
billies  every  half- 

OFFICERS  ARRESTING  INDIAN  BOYS,  LA  PAZ. 


192 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


hour  of  the  night  for  the  same  reason.  There  is  no  fire 
department  in  La  Paz,  as  they  almost  never  have  a  conflagra- 
tion. 

We  received  a  visit,  one  afternoon,  while  I  was  writing, 
from  the  secret  police  of  Bolivia.  It  seems  that  the  chief  of 
police  and  the  Minister  of  War  got  the  notion  .that  we  were 
spies.  They  had  never  before  seen  any  one  in  the  city  taking 
photographs  on  such  an  extensive  scale  as  we  were  doing — 
photographs  of  the  President's  palace,  the  city,  the  public 
buildings,  the  military  barracks,  and  other  objects  of  interest. 
Necessarily  we  had  to  quiet  the  fears  of  the  officials  by  assur- 
ing them  that  we  were 
just  plain  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  in- 
terested harmlessly  in 
South  American  af- 
fairs. We  found  the 
photographing  of  the 
"1  o  w  e  r  orders"  less 
easy  than  making  pic- 
tures of  the  buildings. 
Whenever  we  aimed  a 
camera  at  the  Indians, 
they,  in  most  cases, 
took  to  their  heels, 
frightened  by  the 
amazing  "guns"  with 
which  we  "covered" 
them. 

The  Bolivian  gov- 
ernmental structure  is  much  like  that  of  Peru — a  President, 
Vice-President,  and  upper  and  lower  chamber  of  representa- 
tives. The  currency  of  the  country  is  on  a  gold  basis,  the 
legal  unit  of  value  being  the  silver  boliviano  of  one  hundred 
centavos,  weighing  twenty-five  grams,  equal  to  about  forty 
cents  in  United  States  money.  Bolivia  is  sound  financially, 
and  this  is  due  in  great  part  to  the  fact  that  it  has  no  navy  and 
only  a  small  standing  army  to  support.  Until  recently  it  had 
no  debt,  but  now  it  has  a  small  one,  owing  to  investment  in 


AYMARA  INDIANS,   BOLIVIA. 


BOLIVIA 


193 


railroad  building.  However,  this  debt  is  well  within  the  limits 
of  the  country's  resources. 

The  total  amount  of  foreign  trade  in  1910  aggregated 
$37>477>5°°>  and  of  tms  amount  $14,775,976  were  imports  and 
$22,701,524  were  exports,  showing  a  good  balance  of  trade 
in  favor  of  the  republic.  Bolivia  depends  mostly  upon  her 
mineral  wealth,  which  is  widely  distributed  and  very  rich.  Its 
copper,  tin  and  bismuth  mines  are  among  the  richest  in  the 
world,  while  it  has  given  to  man's  uses  more  silver  than  any 
other  country.  The  principal  silver  mines  are  near  Potosi, 
and  these  mines  have  yielded,  since  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  silver  in  excess  of  $1,500,000,000.  Tin  is  a  very  im- 
portant product,  and  a  legitimate  get-rich-quick  article  to  the 
lucky  finder,  as  an  instance  of  which  I  may  cite  the  case  of 
a  native  who  had  been  working  for  twenty-five  dollars  a 
month,  but  who  not  long  since  discovered  a  great  tin  mine 
and  is  now  exporting  $300,000  worth  of  tin  a  month. 

Rubber  is  also  an  important  export  of  the  country,  and 


A  CORRAL  FILLED  WITH   LLAMAS,   BOLIVIA. 


194 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


A  STREET  IN  LA  PAZ. 


like  many  other  exports  from  Bolivia,  is  credited  to  a  neigh- 
boring republic.  Bolivian  rubber,  which  goes  down  the  Ama- 
zon to  Para,  and  is  shipped  thence  to  the  United  States,  is 
practically  all  credited  to  the  production  of  Brazil. 

Three-quarters  of  the  fertile  land  in  Bolivia  is  unculti- 
vated. The  eastern  portion  of  the  country  is  particularly  rich, 
and  land  may  be  bought  from  the  Government  in  this  section 
for  four  cents  an  acre.  The  most  primitive  methods  are  em- 
ployed in  cultivation,  and  the  natives  often  steal  the  plates 
that  connect  the  rails  on  the  railroad  and  from  these  they 
make  plowshares.  A  large  area  of  the  republic  is  suited  to 
the  growing  of  wheat,  but  as  yet  this  branch  of  agriculture 
has  been  given  little  attention.  Cattle,  sheep,  and  llamas  are 
numerous,  and  rice,  coffee  and  cacao  are  grown  in  large 
quantities.  The  vast  forests  of  Bolivia  are  full  of  sarsapa- 


BOLIVIA  195 

rilla,  cinnamon,  camphor,  vanilla,  dyewood,  mahogany,  ebony, 
rosewood,  satinwood,  cedar  and  cinchona  (quinine)  trees. 

The  city  of  Sucre,  near  the  Cachamayo  River,  is  the  sec- 
ond city  of  importance  in  Bolivia.  It  is  still  nominally  the 
capital  of  the  country,  and  the  Supreme  Court  holds  its  ses- 
sions there,  but  as  the  President  is  in  La  Paz,  and  the  Con- 
gress assembles  there,  and  the  foreign  representatives,  also, 
it  is  really  the  capital.  Sucre  has  a  lovely  climate,  being  only 
8,860  feet  above  the  sea.  It  is  like  spring  there  the  year 
around,  and  the  wonder  is  that  people  should  prefer  cold  La 
Paz  to  it,  particularly  as  the  dwellings  in  Sucre  are  finer  than 
those  of  La  Paz  and  its  people  are  highly  educated. 

Cochabamba,  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  miles  by  road 
from  La  Paz,  is  the  principal  agricultural  city  of  Bolivia,  be- 
ing situated  on  a  well-cultivated  and  fertile  plain  7,244  feet 
above  sea  level.  Manufacturing  interests  are  represented  in 
Bolivia  by  soap  and  starch 
works,  tanneries,  breweries, 
potteries  and  cotton  and 
wool  spinning  establish- 
ments. 

The  United  States  min- 
ister arranged  for  myself 
and  secretary  to  meet  the 
President  of  Bolivia,  Senor 
Elidoro  Villazon,  and  his 
Secretary  of  State.  We  had 
an  hour's  talk  with  the  Pres- 
ident whom  we  found  to  be 
a  very  amiable  and  well- 
informed  gentleman,  very 
much  interested  in  the  prog- 
ress of  his  country. 

The  United  States  Min- 
ister to  Bolivia  is  the  Honor- 
able Horace  G.  Knowles,  of 
Delaware,  who  represented 
Uncle  Sam  in  the  Balkans 
during  the  Turkish  rebellion. 

SOLDIER  ON  GUARD  AT  PRESIDENT'S 
PALACE. 


196 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


He  is  one  of  the  most  cultured  and  intellectual  men  in  our 
diplomatic  service,  and  has  made  an  enviable  record  in  han- 
dling our  country's  affairs  with  other  nations.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Knowles  stand  first  in  diplomatic  circles  in  Bolivia,  and  Mr. 
Knowles'  reception  by  the  Bolivian  Government  was  the  most 
elaborate  and  hospitable  ever  given  a  representative  of  a 
foreign  country.  His  presentation  address  referred  to  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  and  he  placed  that  important  policy  before 
Bolivia,  and  all  South  America,  in  its  right  light.  He  has 
been  quoted  as  an  authority  on  the  interpretation  of  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  in  all  the  South  American  papers.  We  are 
proud  of  him  because  he  formerly  was  a  newspaper  man,  and 
is  a  broad-minded,  capable  official  in  the  right  place — but 
decidedly  underpaid. 

A  serious  question  is: 
How  long  can  the  United 
States  employ  such  able 
men  as  Mr.  Knowles,  and 
other  gentlemen  of  his 
class,  in  the  diplomatic 
service  at  "starvation 
wages"  ?  An  American 
away  from  the  United 
States  should  feel  perfectly 
free  to  go  to  his  represen- 
tative for  information  and 
aid,  and  feel  that  his  coun- 
try is  paying  for  it.  But 
when  one  knows  that  Uncle 
Sam  is  paying  our  diplo- 
matic representatives  what, 
in  most  cases,  is  hardly 
equal  to  decent  house  rent, 
one  feels  that  any  call  upon 
their  services  is  an  imposi- 
tion. 

There  are  millions  of 
dollars  of  American  capital 
invested  in  Bolivia  and 

MOVING  DAY   IN    LA   PAZ. 


BOLIVIA 


197 


VIEW  IN  THE  OUTSKIRTS  OF  LA  PAZ. 

other  countries  of  South  America,  and  there  are  questions 
arising  every  day  that  require  diplomacy  in  their  adjudication, 
for  a  most  trivial  matter,  if  not  settled  amicably,  may  cause 
our  United  States  investors  heavy  financial  loss.  The  people 
of  foreign  countries  must,  to  a  certain  extent,  judge  the 
United  States  by  the  appearance  we  present  in  comparison 
with  other  nations.  We  are  supposedly  the  wealthiest  nation 
in  the  world,  but  our  standing  is  humiliatingly  poor  abroad, 
and  what  standing  we  have  is  gained  by  our  wealthy,  patriotic 
representatives  going  down  into  their  own  pockets  to  maintain 
it.  Hence  I  am  an  ardent  advocate  of  larger  remuneration 
for  our  foreign  representatives,  and  ampler  and  better  con- 
ditions for  them  in  every  way. 

In  the  main,  what  put  Bolivia  prominently  before  the 
world  was  the  building  of  three  railroads  from  three  ports 
on  the  Pacific,  and  a  contract  to  connect  with  a  rail  head  in 
Argentina,  which  will  open  the  inland  capital  and  republic  to 


198 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


the  Atlantic  Ocean,  two 
thousand  miles  away  by 
rail.  All  of  these  roads 
are  aided  by  the  Bolivian 
Government,  either  by 
guarantee  of  bond  or 
cash  subsidy  and  large 
land  grants.  Bolivia 
now  has  within  her 
borders  over  four  hun- 
dred miles  of  railroad  in 
operation,  and  over  four 
hundred  miles  in  course 
of  construction.  A  few 
years  ago  there  was  not 
a  mile  of  railroad  in  the 
country. 

The  first  Bolivian  rail- 
way was  built  from  La 
Paz  to  Lake  Titicaca  by 
the  Government  and  was 
sold  to  the  Peruvian 
Corp  oration,  which 
owned  the  boats  on  the 

lake — four  steamers  of  from  four  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred 
tons. 

La  Paz  has  always  been  referred  to  as  the  most  inaccessi- 
ble city  in  the  world,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  For- 
bidden City  of  Thibet,  China.  Fifteen  years  ago  an  English 
engineer,  after  wandering  around  South  America  for  several 
years  in  the  employ  of  a  French  company,  landed  in  La  Paz, 
and  stayed  there.  He  has  done  for  La  Paz  and  Bolivia  what 
Henry  Meiggs,  an  American,  did  for  Peru.  I  refer  to  Mr.  J. 
Pierce  Hope.  He  was  employed  by  the  Bolivian  Government, 
and  put  in  charge  of  the  public  works,  and  now  La  Paz  is 
one  of  the  best  built  and  most  sanitary  cities  in  South  Amer- 
ica, and  is  connected,  in  all  directions,  with  the  outside  world. 
Relative  to  the  three  railroads  connecting  with  the  Pacific, 
the  first  is  the  Mollendo-La  Paz  route,  via  Lake  Titicaca,  which 


LLAMAS  AND  STREET  IN  LA  PAZ. 


BOLIVIA 


199 


is  six  hundred  miles  in  length.  The  second  is  from  Antof  agasta 
to  La  Paz,  seven  hundred  miles,  all  rail.  The  third  is  the 
Arica-La  Paz,  four  hundred  miles  in  length,  which  will  soon 
be  completed.  This  last  route  has  the  disadvantage  of  thirty 
miles  of  "cog"  road  over  a  mountain  pass  sixteen  thousand 
feet  high,  and  will  be  very  expensive  to  operate. 

The  Government  of  Bolivia  released  to  Brazil,  for  $10,000,- 
ooo,  a  strip  of  territory  next  to  that  country,  and  this  money 
is  being  invested  in  helping  to  build  a  railroad  around  the 
Madeira  Rapids,  to  open  an  outlet  by  way  of  the  Amazon 
River  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  This  great  project  I  will  take 
up  more  fully  in  a  later  chapter.  No  country  anywhere  is  at 
present  doing  more  to  "be  on  the  map"  than  Bolivia,  and  with 
her  great  area  and  great  variety  of  products,  she  must  be 
reckoned  with  very  seriously  in  the  future.  Thirty  years  ago 
Bolivia  was  "not  on  the  map."  It  happened  this  way:  The 
English  minister  demanded  an  apology  from  the  President  of 


TWO  VIEWS  IN  LA 
BOLIVIA. 


200 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Bolivia  for  what  he  considered  an  insult  to  himself  and  family, 
but  the  only  answer  he  got  was  his  "papers"  and  an  escort  to 
the  boundary  line.  The  jolt  to  his  pride,  and  the  discourtesy 
to  his  country  was  more  than  he  could  stand  quietly,  so  he 
expressed  himself  very  emphatically  to  the  officer  in  charge  of 
the  guard,  who  proceeded  to  impose  new  and  additional  dis- 
grace by  placing  the  minister  on  a  mule,  with  his  face  toward 
the  mule's  tail,  and 
in  that  way  es- 
corted him  through 
the  streets  of  La 
Paz.  The  British 
Govern  m  e  n  t  de- 
cided that  Bolivia 
was  beneath  her 
notice,  and  no  de- 
mand was  made 
for  an  apology  or 
satisfaction  of  any 
kind.  All  that 
Great  Britain  did 
was  to  paint  out 
the  Republic  of 
Bolivia  on  the  map 
of  South  America, 
and  when  request- 
ed to  send  another 
minister  or  diplo- 
matic representa- 
tive replied:  "We 
find  no  such  coun- 
try as  Bolivia  on 
our  map."  The 
United  States  min- 
i  s  t  e  r  represented 
the  British  subjects 
in  Bolivia  for  a 
number  of  years, 
and  it  was  only  re- 


INDIAN   FAMILY  S   HOME  IN   A  RUIN   OF 

THE  "OLDEST  CITY/' 


BOLIVIA  201 

cently — since  English  capital  has  been  invested  largely  in 
railroads  and  Bolivian  bonds — that  the  English  Government 
has  sent  a  representative  to  this  republic. 

Toward  Bolivia  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  ought 
to  entertain  a  sort  of  "close  to  home"  feeling,  on  account  of 
it  being  the  only  country  in  South  America  named  after 
Simon  Bolivar,  who  had  many  of  the  qualities  of  our  own 
George  Washington.  The  ambition  of  Bolivar  was  to  liberate 
all  the  countries  in  South  America  from  Spain  and  form  them 
into  one  grand  republic.  Had  he  succeeded,  the  United  States 
would  have  had  a  most  formidable  competitor.  There  is  little 
doubt  but  that  South  America,  in  every  way  equal  if  not 
superior  to  North  America  in  climate,  products  and  extent  of 
territory,  would  have  received  much  of  the  European  immi- 
gration that  has  entered  the  United  States,  and  the  great 
North  American  republic  would,  possibly,  be  occupying  the 
second  instead  of  the  first  place  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 


CHILE 


Area,  307,620  square  miles,  approximately  the  size  of  the  States 
of  Texas  and  Virginia  combined — Population  4,000,000,  in- 
cluding some  50,000  Indians — Chief  resources,  nitrate,  sil- 
ver, copper,  wool,  hides,  agriculture — Total  exports  (1010) 
$120,021,010;  imports  $108,582,270.  Exports  to  the  United 
States  (ion},  $10,041,000;  imports  from  United  States 
$12,044,578 — Capital,  Santiago,  population  400,000 — Na- 
tional debt  $125,000,000.  Standing  army  17,500;  all  phys- 
ically capable  males  from  18  to  45  years  of  age  liable  to 
service  in  time  of  war — Navy,  7,000  officers  and  men, 
eighth  in  strength  of  the  world's  navies. 

CHAPTER  XL 
SCENES  IN  NORTHERN  CHILE). 

ONE  thing  I  hold  against  whisky  is  that  it  makes  some  men 
imagine  that  they  can  sing.  One  unfortunate  thing  about 
visiting  strange  countries  is  that  it  makes  the  traveler  want  to 
write.  In  both  cases  the  performer  "afflicts"  his  friends  and 
the  public  because  of  "inspiration,"  but  there  is  a  difference  in 
the  character  of  the  stimulant.  The  man  who  looks  upon 
towering  mountain  ranges  and  is  stirred  to  lofty  thoughts,  who 
sees  in  strange  human  faces  the  inherited  marks  of  old  historic 
struggles,  who  stands  in  wonder  before  the  works  of  hands  that 
have  been  dust  for  ages,  is  likely,  I  believe,  to  be  a  better  man 
afterward.  With  the  drinking  of  whisky  it  is  not  so;  there 
the  parallel  ends. 

Chile,  by  reason  of  its  odd  topography  and  the  romance  of 

its  history,  attracts  the 
traveler  strongly.  Once 
within  its  borders,  the 
investigator  begins  to 
find  interesting  objects 
and  phases  on  every 
hand.  I  entered  the 
country  near  the  north 


OLD-FASHIONED  STREET  CAR  IN 
COQUIMBO,    CHILE. 

202 


CHILE  203 

end  of  it,  and  at  once  anticipation  was  awakened  by  two  things 
—the  nitrate  fields,  in  battling  for  which  thousands  of  human 
lives  were  lost,  and  the  surprising  thinness  and  still  more  sur- 
prising length  of  the  country  we  were  to  traverse  in  our  journey 
toward  the  south.  Chile  is  less  than  one  hundred  miles  in  width, 
on  an  average,  but  is  twenty-seven  hundred  miles  in  length. 
Fancy  a  nation  bound  to  a  strip  of  territory  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  wide  and  extending  from  New  York 
to  eastern  California  and  you  have  it.  The  unusual  always- 
provokes  curiosity,  and  such  a  country  as  Chile,  and  the  people 
that  inhabit  it,  can  hardly  fail  to  hold  the  traveler's  close  atten- 
tion. 

To  George  Smith,  a  Scotchman,  the  Republic  of  Chile  is 
indebted  for  a  discovery  that  has  brought  it  great  wealth,  for  it 
was  he  who  accidentally  stumbled  upon  the  fact  that  nitrate,  or 
saltpeter,  is  an  excellent  fertilizer.  Smith  at  the  time  was 
living  in  the  village  of  Pica,  near  where  the  city  of  Iquique 
now  stands,  and  he  had  a  small  garden  of  fruit  and  flowers 
which  he  cultivated. 

One  day  he  observed  that  the  trees  and  plants  which  were 
banked  up  with  soil  containing  a  strange  white  substance,  flour- 
ished more  than  others.  Being  of  an  inquiring  disposition, 
Smith's  observation  led  him  to  make  numerous  experiments 
with  such  success  that  his  brother-in-law,  who  was  in  the 
canned  fruit  business,  took  a  few  bags  of  the  white  substance 
to  England  to  give  to  the  farmers,  from  whom  he  bought  his 
fruit,  that  they  might  try  it  in  their  orchards.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  an  industry  that  has  grown  to  enormous  propor- 
tions. 

At  present  the  nitrate  industry  of  Chile,  which  gives  employ- 
ment to  about  fifty  thousand  men,  and  pays  the  Government 
$37,500,000  annually  in  export  taxes,  is  practically  the  basis  of 
all  business  transacted  in  the  northern  part  of  the  republic. 
Tramp  steamers,  colliers  and  sailboats  alike,  discharge  their 
varied  cargoes  from  the  different  parts  of  the  world  in  Chilean 
harbors,  and  then  wend  their  way  back  to  European  and  Amer- 
ican ports,  loaded  to  the  gunwales  with  nitrate. 

And  what  is  nitrate?  Simply  sodium  nitrate,  commonly 
known  as  saltpeter.  It  had  been  known  to  chemists  before 


204 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Smith's  discovery,  and  had  been  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
powder;  but  now,  in  addition  to  being  used  in  large  amounts 
for  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder,  it  is  the  most  extensive 
fertilizer  used.  The  product  as  shipped  is  about  95  per  cent 
pure,  but  it  passes  through  several  processes  before  being 
ready  for  shipment. 

The  crude  material,  locally  known  as  caliche,  is  found  on 
the  pampas  or  arid  plains  as  a  subsoil,  vast  in  area,  and  varying 
from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet  in  thickness.  It  is  a  crystal- 
line mass  containing  sodium  nitrate,  sodium  chloride  and 
various  potassium  salts,  but  the  caliche  that  is  commercially 
workable  usually  carries  from  15  to  23  per  cent  of  sodium 
nitrate.  The  Chilean  laborers — for  up  to  date  no  foreign 
laborers  have  been  admitted  to  the  pampas — mine  the  caliche 
by  contract,  the  usual  proceeding  being  to  drill  a  hole  about 
six  inches  in  diameter  to  the  bottom  of  the  caliche  and  then 
loosen  up  a  certain  area  with  a  charge  of  blasting  powder, 
which  is  manufactured  on  the  ground. 

The  caliche  is  then  loaded  into  small  steel  dump  cars  and 
drawn  by  narrow-gauge  engines  to  the  works,  where  it  is 
dumped  upon  the  crusher  floor.  Here  it  is  fed  to  huge  oscillat- 
ing jaw-crushers  which  break  the  material  to  about  the  size  of 
a  man's  fist.  From  the  crushers  the  product  is  raised,  either  in 
cars,  or  by  means  of  endless  conveyor  belts,  to  the  tank  floor, 
where  it  is  dumped  into  ^  large  steel  tanks  having  a 
capacity  of  seventy  tons  each.  These  tanks  are 

lined  with  steam  pipes,  and  when  a  tank  has  been  filled 

with  the  crushed  caliche,  water  is  turned  in  upon  the 

mass  and  steam  is  sent  through  the  pipes  until  the 


NITRATE  WORKS  OR  "OFICINA,      NORTHERN   CHILE. 


CHILE  205 

solution  boils  violently.  After  about  four  hours  of  boiling, 
the  solution,  which  is  now  partially  saturated  with  dissolved 
sodium  nitrate,  is  drawn  off  and  the  process  repeated  with 
water  less  rich  with  nitrate,  until  the  maximum  amount  of 
saltpeter  has  been  extracted. 

The  now  saturated  solution  is  turned  into  shallow  steel 
tanks  where  the  action  of  the  extremely  dry  air  and  wind  soon 
tend  to  evaporate  the  water,  the  pure  nitrate  of  sodium  precipi- 
tating in  the  form  of  beautiful  white  crystals — the  saltpeter  of 
commerce.  The  crystallizing  process  usually  requires  from 
seven  to  ten  days,  the  product  then  being  sacked  and  shipped 
to  the  coast  for  export. 

Since  caliche  contains  appreciable  amounts  of  potassium 
iodine,  some  of  the  works,  or  oficinas,  as  they  are  locally 
known,  make  iodine  as  a  by-product,  so  that  today  Chile  con- 
trols the  market  of  this  valuable  chemical.  Today  the  Chilean 
nitrate  industry  is  practically  in  the  hands  of  English,  German 
and  local  capitalists,  who  have  formed  a  trust  to  limit  the  prod- 
uct and  fix  the  price.  Recently,  however,  a  large  United  States 
powder  manufacturing  concern,  which  has  been  in  the  habit  of 
buying  its  nitrate  in  the  open  market  for  many  years,  has  ac- 
quired nitrate  grounds,  and  will  probably  commence  manufac- 
turing on  a  large  scale  in  the  near  future. 

There  are,  of  course,  various  sized  oficinas,  but  one  of  aver- 
age capacity  will  turn  out  about  120,000  Spanish  quintals  (a 
quintal  equals  100  pounds)  of  nitrate  per  month.  The  cost  of 
production  naturally  varies  with  the  conditions,  but  it  is  usually 
conceded  that  a  well-managed  plant  is  able  to  place  its  product 
aboard  ship  in  either  Iquique  or  Antofagasta  harbors  for  about 
five  shillings  ($1.20  United  States  money)  per  100  pounds — 
this  cost  including  the  export  tax  of  70  cents  per  quintal  levied 
by  the  Chilean  Government.  Since  the  present  price  paid  by 
buyers  is  seven  shillings  ($1.68)  per  quintal,  which  for  an 
oficina  producing  12,000,000  pounds  per  month  means  a  profit 
of  about  $690,000  per  year,  or  over  50  per  cent  profit — the 
cost  of  a  complete  plant,  which  is  about  $1,250,000,  is  not  a 
bad  investment. 

In  the  past  few  years  several  "scares"  have  been  started  in 
Chile  relative  to  the  possibility  of  producing  cheap  artificial 


206 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


nitrates  from  the  air  by  electrolysis  in  Norway,  where  enor- 
mous water-power  plants  are  used  for  the  purpose.  However, 
up  to  date  the  process  has  not  seriously  affected  the  price  of  the 
Chilean  product,  and  England,  Germany  and  the  United  States, 
the  three  chief  consumers,  will  probably  continue  to  draw  their 
supplies  of  the  fertilizer  from  Chile  for  many  years  to  come, 
especially  since  it  is  estimated,  and  has  been  officially  reported 
by  the  United  States  Government  officials,  that  known  deposits 
will  last  for  another  century.  A  recent  quarterly  circular  of 
the  Nitrate  Propaganda  Association  states  that  a  reliable 
estimate  places  the  remaining  nitrate  of  the  northern  Chilean 
fields  at  5,408,204,000  quintals,  enough  to  rejuvenate  old 
Mother  Earth  for  over  another  hundred  years. 

The  northern  coast  of  Chile  is  dry,  tropical  in  climate,  bare 
of  vegetation,  thinly  populated,  but  rich  in  minerals,  while  the 
air  of  the  coast  towns  reeks  with  the  smell  of  saltpeter — Na- 
ture's chief  gift  to  this  part  of  the  country. 

Arica,  in  the  province  of  Tacna,  is  the  most  northerly  port 
in  Chile.  It  is  connected  with  the  city  of  Tacna  by  a  railway 
thirty-eight  miles  long,  and  it  is  the  terminal  of  a  burro  road 
built  by  the  Incas,  connecting  the  port  with  La  Paz,  Bolivia,  the 


CLIFF   OF   THE    MORRO   FORTRESS,    ARICA,    CHILE. 


CHILE  207 

road  being  in  constant  use  today.  Rising  some  eight  hundred 
feet  to  the  southwest  of  the  harbor  is  a  fortified  hill  called  El 
Morro.  On  this  precipitous  headland  a  life-and-death  struggle, 
one  of  the  most  savage  in  the  history  of  South  American  war- 
fare, took  place  during  the  war  between  Chile  and  Peru,  in 
which  the  latter  were  allied  with  Bolivia.  The  Peruvians  and 
Bolivians  mustered  at  Tacna  and  Arica  numbered  6,000  and 
4,000  respectively;  they  were  poorly  armed  and  practically 
without  ammunition.  The  Chileans  numbered  14,000,  part  of 
which  was  cavalry,  and  they  were  well  armed.  The  opposing 
armies  met  outside  Tacna  and  a  terrible  battle  began.  It  lasted 
two  hours  and  the  slaughter  was  appalling,  the  Bolivians  being 
forced  to  retreat  up  the  valley  of  Tacna,  over  the  Andean  passes, 
into  Bolivia.  Over  one-fourth  of  the  men  engaged  in  this 
battle  were  killed  or  wounded,  the  desperate  struggle  terminat- 
ing at  El  Morro,  overtopping  Arica. 

The  Chilean  commander  invited  the  surrender  of  Arica 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  but  the  brave  Bolognesi,  the  Peruvian 
commander,  refused.  At  daybreak  one  morning  the  Chilean 
army  began  the  storming  of  the  fortified  hill.  The  outworks 
were  carried  by  surprise  and  a  hand-to-hand  struggle  ensued 
on  top  of  El  Morro.  The  Chileans  overpowered  their  enemies 
and  the  fortress  was  taken. 

I  saw  tears  in  the  eyes  of  my  Peruvian  photographer  as  he 
looked  long  and  tenderly  at  the  historic  hill. 

"What  is  the  matter,  George  ?"  I  asked. 

"Ah !"  he  said,  "that  is  a  sacred  spot  to  Peru  and  to  me ;  my 
grandfather,  General  Bolognesi,  died  there!" 

Arica  has  been  destroyed  by  earthquake  several  times,  and 
in  1868  it  was  almost  washed  away  by  a  tidal  wave  that  swept 
in  from  the  ocean  without  warning.  Tourists  from  the  United 
States  are  particularly  interested  in  the  history  of  this  disaster, 
as  two  United  States  warships,  the  Fredonia  and  Wateree, 
were  lying  in  the  harbor  at  the  time. 

A  wave  sixty  feet  high  rolled  in  from  the  sea,  lifted  them 
from  their  moorings,  and  literally  swept  them  over  the  roofs  of 
the  city.  The  Fredonia  was  completely  destroyed,  and  every 
one  on  board  was  lost ;  the  Wateree  was  left  lying  on  a  level 
keel  in  the  sand,  and  there  she  has  remained  ever  since.  About 


CHILE  209 

half  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Wateree,  who  were  between 
decks,  survived  the  deluge  and  escaped  when  the  water  receded. 

Iquique,  capital  of  the  province  of  Tarapaca,  is  the  largest 
nitrate  port  in  the  world,  and  its  volume  of  exports  is  greater 
than  any  other  Chilean  port.  It  has  one  of  the  safest  harbors 
of  northern  Chile,  being  protected  by  surrounding  rocks  and  a 
breakwater.  The  city,  which  has  a  population  of  about  50,000 
inhabitants,  is  modern  in  most  respects,  having  tramways,  elec- 
tric lights,  telephones,  manufacturing  plants,  and  wide  streets 
which  are,  in  most  part,  well  paved. 

Not  far  from  the  city  are  the  rich  silver  mines  of  Huan- 
tayaja,  which  have  yielded  the  huge  sum  of  $350,000,000  since 
their  discovery,  many  years  ago.  All  the  coast  towns  of  north- 
ern Chile  present  an  aspect  of  prosperity,  and  if  we  had  not 
visited  the  rich  nitrate  fields  we  would  have  marveled  how  such 
a  narrow,  dry,  desert  country  could  possess  the  wealth  that 
here  abounds  on  every  hand. 

Antofagasta,  which  lies  at  sea  level  and  has  a  population  of 
about  17,000,  is  the  principal  Chilean  port  between  Iquique  and 
Valparaiso,  and  is  also  the  principal  import  and  export  point  in 
Chile  for  trade  of  the  isolated  republic  of  Bolivia,  to  which 
country  it  once  belonged.  There  are  no  docks  here,  and  the 
loading  and  unloading  of  ships  is  accomplished  with  lighters. 
There  is  a  railroad  from  Antofagasta  to  La  Paz,  the  capital  of 
Bolivia,  and  although  the  greater  number  of  locomotives  used 
on  this  line  are  English,  they  have  to  depend  upon  American- 
built  engines  to  pull  the  trains  up  the  steep  grades. 

If  you  ever  visit  Valparaiso,  I  would  advice  you  not  to  arrive 
there  in  carnival  time,  as  I  did,  else  you  will  find  all  business 
suspended,  the  custom  house  officials  amusing  themselves 
throwing  colored  paper  at  pretty  girls,  and  only  the  porters 
willing  to  work,  and  they  for  a  holiday  price. 

Valparaiso  is  the  principal  Chilean  port,  and  the  capital  of 
the  province  of  Valparaiso.  It  is  situated  midway  between 
the  northern  and  southern  extremities  of  Chile,  and  is  con- 
nected by  rail  with  Santiago,  the  capital  of  Chile.  There  are 
no  docks  or  wharfs  at  which  large  boats  can  land,  and  all  com- 
merce between  the  city  and  ships  is  carried  on  by  means  of 
lighters.  It  is  one  of  the  least  secure  of  the  West  Coast  harbors, 
14 


210  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE   GUAYACAN    MINES,   CI 

as  the  bay  opens  to  the  north,  and  when  the  "northers"  come 
the  surf  dashes  over  the  sea  wall  and  more  or  less  damage  is 
done. 

The  city,  which  has  a  population  of  about  200,000,  is  built 
upon  nineteen  hills,  ranging  from  three  hundred  to  eleven  hun- 
dred feet  in  height,  in  many  cases  being  separated  by  deep 
gullies,  through  which  flow  narrow  streams  of  water.  In  the 
level  part  of  the  city  the  streets  are  generally  straight,  but 
the  hill  streets  are  reached  by  winding  roads,  stairways  and 
inclined  tramways.  The  tramway  system  is  owned  by  a  Ger- 
man syndicate,  and  the  cars  are  double-decked.  First-class 
passengers  ride  inside,  while  second-class  passengers  climb  up 
a  winding  stair  to  seats  on  the  top,  and,  in  my  opinion,  have 
the  best  of  it,  in  addition  to  paying  only  half  fare,  or  two  and 
one-half  cents. 

The  conductors  are,  in  most  part,  women.  It  seems  that 
during  the  war  with  Peru  and  Bolivia  so  many  men  were  absent 
as  soldiers,  that  the  mule  car  line  employed  women  as  con- 
ductors. They  proved  to  be  so  much  more  honest  and  efficient 
than  men  that  they  were  continued  in  service  after  the  war,  and 
when  the  electric  lines  were  built  by  German  capital  they  were 
again  employed. 

This  choice  between  the  sexes  at  once  presents  to  the  mind 
the  perplexing  question  of  which  is  really  superior,  the  human 
'male  or  female.  I  shall  not  permit  myself  to  discuss  this  dan- 


CHILE  211 


PHOTOGRAPHED  FROM   THE  DECK  OF  STEAMER. 

gerous  topic,  more  than  to  mention  a  brief  verbal  encounter  be- 
tween a  man  and  woman,  which,  I  am  told,  recently  took  place. 
The  two  persons  had  become  slightly  heated  in  the  argument, 
when  the  man  asked : 

"Why  do  you  consider  women  superior  to  men  in  intelli- 
gence, madam?" 

|"Well,  a  bald-headed  man  buys  hair  restorer  by  the  quart, 
doesn't  he  ?"  asked  the  woman. 

"Er — yes,"  assented  the  man. 

"Well,  a  woman  doesn't  waste  time  on  hair  restorers ;  she 
simply  buys  hair,"  replied  the  woman.  Floored,  the  man  went 
out,  it  is  said,  and  butted  his  bald  head  against  a  stone  wall. 

The  city  of  Valparaiso  has  progressed,  notwithstanding  the 
terrible  misfortunes  that  have  overtaken  it.  Founded  in  1536 
it  was  captured  and  sacked  by  Drake  forty-two  years  later; 
again,  some  eighteen  years  afterward,  by  Hawkins,  the  bucca- 
neer ;  then  Van  Noort,  the  Dutch  pirate,  took  his  turn  and  plun- 
dered the  town.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1858  and  bombarded 
by  the  Spaniards  in  1866,  but  the  worst  calamity  that  befell  it 
was  in  1906,  when  one  evening,  after  a  day  of  unusual  calm, 
there  was  a  sudden  shock  of  the  earth,  followed  by  another,  and 
the  entire  city  seemed  to  swing  back  and  forth  ;  then  there  was  a 
terrible  jolt,  as  if  all  the  pent-up  subterranean  energies  of  the 
earth  were  trying  to  break  forth  at  one  point,  and  whole  rows 
of  buildings  fell  with  a  roaring  crash.  The  gas  and  water 


VIEW  OF  THE  HARBOR  OF  VALPARAISO, 


A   NEAR  VIEW   OF  THE   WATER-FRONT 


THE  PRINCIPAL  PORT  OF   CHILE. 


F  VALPARAISO,  CHILE. 


214 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


mains  and  electric  light  wires  were  snapped,  and  the  city  was  in 
darkness.  A  few  moments  of  terror  ensued,  then  the  darkness 
was  dispelled  by  numerous  fires  that  sprang  up  here  and  there 
—funeral  pyres  to  hundreds,  torches  to  guide  others  who  fled 
from  the  stricken  city  as  it  was  swept  by  a  great  storm. 

It  is  said  that  through  the  earthquake  and  fire  ninety  per 
cent  of  the  houses  were  destroyed,  and  amid  the  havoc  troops 
and  citizens  stood  guard  and  shot  down  the  human  vultures  that 
sought  personal  gain  from  the  great  disaster.  The  railways  were 
wrecked  for  miles  and  telegraph  lines  were  broken  everywhere. 
The  condition  of  the  people  for  a  few  days  was  indescribable, 
over  60,000  being  camped  on  the  barren  hills  above  the  town 
without  food  or  adequate  clothing.  The  exact  number  of  fatali- 
ties was  never  definitely  known,  but  it  is  estimated  that  from 
500  to  1,000  persons  perished  and  over  1,000  were  injured;  the 
damage  to  property  and  business  amounted  to  about  $100,- 
000,000. 

Despite  its  continued  calamities  Valparaiso  (the  name  means 
Vale  of  Paradise)  has  been  rebuilt  and  is  today  an  enterprising 
commercial  city  with  modern  improvements,  and  is  growing 
each  year.  It  has  a  reservoir  near  the  city  limits  where  water 
enough  can  be  stored  to  last  three  years. 


TYPE  OF  ARCHITECTURE  IN  VALPARAISO,   CHILE. 


CHILE 


215 


The  island  of  Juan  Fer- 
nandez, made  famous  as  the 
long-abiding  place  of  Robin- 
son Crusoe  and  his  black 
man  Friday,  lies  off  the 
western  coast  of  Chile,  and 
is  today  the  seat  of  the  lob- 
ster canning  industry.  If 
Robinson  Crusoe  had  no 
difficulty  in  digesting  lob- 
sters I  do  not  wonder  that 
he  stayed  so  long  on  his  is- 
land home.  I  had  a  lobster 
from  Crusoe's  famous  is- 
land, and  it  was  the  finest  I 
have  ever  eaten.  It  was 
about  three  times  the  size  of 
the  lobsters  we  have  in  the 
United  States.  When  I  say 
I  had  one,  I  mean  I  ate  a 
portion  of  one,  as  half  a 

single  lobster  was  served  for  three  and  each  of  us  had  all  we 
desired. 


A    BREAD  MAN;    VALPARAISO, 
CHILE. 


TWO-DECKED   STREET    CARS,    VALPARAISO,    CHILE. 


2i6  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

The  steamers  which  visit  Chile  are  for  the  most  part  British, 
211  flying  that  flag  having  registered  in  and  out  in  a  given  time ; 
German,  90 ;  Chilean,  55  ;  French,  7 ;  Belgian,  2 ;  Argentinian,  2 ; 
Danish,  2;  Dutch,  i;  United  States,  i.  Only  one  from  the 
United  States!  Think  of  that!  And  the  United  States  is 
spending,  or  will  spend,  the  better  part  of  one  billion  dollars  for 
the  Panama  ship  canal ! 


CHAPTER  XII. 
SANTIAGO   AND    CENTRAL   CHILE. 

IT)  EGARDED  with  a  free  fancy,  Chile  and  the  Andes  Moun- 
.IV  tains,  when  looked  at  upon  the  map,  somewhat  resemble 
an  elongated  centipede  and  a  yellow  ribbon  lying  side  by  side.  If 
you  look  closely  you  will  see  that  the  very  elongated  centipede 
has  several  thousands  of  its  feet  planted  on  the  ribbon  along 
the  west  side,  and  several  thousands  of  its  feet  resting  on  Ar- 
gentina and  Bolivia  on  the  east.  Continuing  the  simile,  one 
sees  that  the  centipede  extends  so  far  southward  that  its  tail 
is  lost  in  the  ocean  near  the  Antarctic  region,  and  that  it  keeps 
its  feet  on  the  yellow  ribbon  until  that,  too,  sinks  into  the  Cold 
Ocean.  That  is  why  Chile  has  been  called  the  "Tapeline  Re- 
public" by  some,  and  by  others  the  "Populated  Sliver." 

The  products  of  Chile  are  just  as  diversified  as  is  indicated 
by  her  longitudinal  extremes — from  17  to  58  degrees  south 
latitude,  or,  to  be  a  little  plainer,  from  the  southern  boundary  of 
Peru  to  Cape  Horn,  which  projects  out  into  the  Antarctic 
Ocean. 

Chile  should  really  be  divided  into  three  parts — Northern, 
Central  and  Southern.  When  old  Mother  Earth  gave  birth  to 
South  America  she  put  up  a  great  wall  on  the  western  side  in 
the  shape  of  the  Andes  Mountains  to  keep  back  the  ocean,  and 
placed  her  front  yard  of  broad  acres  to  the  east  of  this  barrier, 
where  there  was  rain  in  abundance,  and  where  the  warmth  of 
the  sun  coaxed  the  buds  forth  to  drink  in  its  glory.  But  her 
children  wanted  to  play  in  the  "back  yard" ;  they  didn't  want  to 
be  dressed  up  all  the  time ;  they  wanted  to  sleep  in  the  morning 
and  play  in  the  afternoon  when  the  shadows  of  the  western  sun 
began  to  lengthen.  So  good  old  Mother  Earth  heaved  up  the 
bottom  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  west  of  the  mountain  wall 
she  had  built,  and  told  her  children  they  might  play  at  "keeping 
house"  in  the  newly-made  "back  yard." 

217 


2l8 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Of  course  the  children  were  pleased  for  a  while,  but  soon 
began  to  want  many  things.  Some  wanted  it  warm,  some  cold, 
some  wet,  some  dry ;  some  wanted  to  hunt,  others  to  fish ;  some 
wanted  to  mine,  others  to  farm;  some  wanted  to  raise  grain, 
fruits  and  grapes;  others  wanted  to  raise  cattle,  sheep  and 
horses ;  but  most  of  them  only  wanted  to  raise  a  fuss.  So  old 
Mother  Earth  let  them  all  have  their  own  way,  and  provided 
them  all  with  the  opportunity  to  have  it.  She  put  up  the  very 
highest  mountains,  one  about  24,000  feet  high,  to  keep  off  the 
wind  and  rain  from  the  east,  and  in  the  north,  between  these 
very  high  mountains  and  the  ocean,  she  placed  only  dry  sands. 
Here  the  "playing"  is  good,  but  the  living  is  poor,  as  they  could 
not  have  dry,  pleasant  weather  all  the  time  and  also  fruits,  grain 
and  flowers.  But  Mother  Earth  knew  her  children  would  not  be 
satisfied  to  play  all  the  time,  so  in  the  dry,  sandy  places  she 
deposited  nitrate  to  fertilize  the  world,  and  up  in  the  mountains 
she  placed  copper  and  rich  deposits  of  silver.  She  made  little 
rivers  by  melting  the  snow  on  top  of  the  high  mountains,  and 
these  small  streams  flowed  down  through  the  sandy  soil ;  and 
her  children  "played"  at  digging  ditches,  and,  turning  the  water 


A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  SANTIAGO, 


CHILE 


219 


on  the  queer  "soil,"  they  raised  all  sorts  of  delicious  things  to 
eat.  It  sounds  somewhat  like  a  fairy  story,  but  it  is  true,  and 
it  proves  how  very  thoughtful  and  kind  is  Mother  Earth. 

In  North  America  we  have  cold  in  the  North  and  warmth  in 
the  South.  In  Chile  it  is  just  the  reverse — hot  in  the  North 
and  cold  in  the  South.  In  the  warm,  balmy  air  of  the  North 
the  Chilean  children  played  and  slept  and  grew  lazy  and  weak. 
Away  up  in  the  high  mountains  of  Peru,  where  it  was  cold, 
there  lived  another  family  of  Mother  Earth's  children  who  had 
to  "hustle"  to  keep  warm  and  get  something  to  eat.  These  were 
called  the  Inca  Indians,  and  they  were  stronger  and  braver  than 
the  lazy  Indians  in  northern  Chile,  where  the  land  was  low  and 
the  weather  hot  all  the  time;  so  the  latter  were  conquered  by 
the  Incas.  But  the  Spanish  had  to  retake  the  northern  part  of 
Chile,  and  as  it  was  difficult  to  support  an  army  in  this  desert 
country,  the  white  men  had  no  easy  task.  However,  in  the 
course  of  time  the  northern  Chileans  were  again  subdued  and 
were  ready  to  do  whatever  the  Spanish  bade  them.  They  soon 
began  to  intermarry  with  the  Spanish,  and  a  new  half-breed 
race,  called  rotos,  sprang  up.  They  were  not  much  better 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  CAPITAL  OF  CHILE. 


220  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

than  the  Indians,  both  the  rotos  and  Indians  of  northern  Chile 
being  a  lazy,  drunken  lot,  which  they  are  today.  There  are 
now  many  white  people  in  the  northern  country,  brought  there 
by  the  lure  of  gain  from  nitrate  and  the  silver  and  copper 
mines.  They  are  a  hard-working,  hard-drinking  people  who 
soon  wear  out.  Sanitary  conditions  are  not  modern  in  that 
region,  water  is  scarce  and  nearly  all  food  is  imported. 

From  Valparaiso,  the  chief  port,  there  is  not  much  moisture 
for  seventy-five  miles  southeast,  at  which  point  one  enters  the 
north  end  of  the  great  Central  Valley,  which  extends  south 
for  about  six  hundred  miles.  This  valley  averages  about  fifty 
miles  in  width,  but  as  Chile  is  only  ninety  miles  wide,  on  an 
average,  the  valley  is  pretty  large  in  comparison,  and  it  is  not 
only  the  valley,  but  the  "backbone"  of  all  Chile.  Without  this 
valley  Chile  would  be  the  poorest  country  in  South  America ; 
with  it,  she  is  the  richest  for  her  size,  for  here  we  find  growing 
every  product  of  the  soil  that  we  produce  in  the  United  States. 

The  Government  has  built  a  railroad  through  the  center  of 
this  valley  from  north  to  south,  with  branch  lines  running  east 
to  the  mines  in  the  mountains  and  west  to  many  fine  harbors 
on  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  already  has  built  two  thousand  miles 
of  railroad  and  is  building  two  thousand  miles  more,  a  portion 
of  which  extends  into  the  north  over  the  sandy  desert  country 
to  new  mines  already  opened  and  others  under  development. 
The  entire  national  debt  of  $125,000,000  is  due  to  investments 
in  railroads. 

The  agricultural  portion  of  this  great  Central  Valley,  which 
embraces  nearly  all  of  it,  is  divided  into  large  farms,  -or 
haciendas,  as  they  are  called  in  Spanish,  on  which  the  owner 
lives  when  he  is  not  in  his  town  house  in  Santiago,  or  traveling 
in  Europe.  For  some  years  there  was  considerable  immigra- 
tion from  Germany,  but  now  there  are  no  farm  immigrants 
coming  to  Chile.  The  oldest  and  best  portions  of  the  land  are 
occupied  by  the  rich  "big  farmers,"  who  never  sell  any  of  their 
possessions,  and  the  only  way  the  farms  are  ever  broken  up  is 
by  division  among  children,  who  even  when  married  continue 
to  live  under  one  roof  with  their  parents  and  families. 

Nonresidents  may  own  land  in  Chile,  and  it  is  possible  for 
a  corporation  to  own  real  estate,  but  there  is  a  growing  senti- 


THE  AMERICAN  LEGATION  BUILDING,  SANTIAGO,  CHILE. 


222  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

ment  against  this  form  of  controlling  the  source  from  which 
comes  the  food  necessary  to  sustain  life,  as  it  would  be  an  easy 
matter  for  one  or  a  number  of  corporations  to  monopolize  the 
agricultural  products. 

The  system  of  labor  in  vogue  is  largely  the  "tenant  plan," 
each  tenant  having  a  house  in  which  to  live  and  a  fixed  quan- 
tity of  land  to  work,  giving  his  labor,  or  the  labor  of  one  man, 
to  the  owner  of  the  land  as  the  price  of  rent,  his  family  work- 
ing the  place  he  rents  in  case  he  gives  his  own  labor  to  his 
landlord.  This  system,  apparently,  works  well  in  Chile  and  is 
deeply  rooted  as  a  custom  of  the  country. 

The  owner  of  the  land,  however,  has  much  more  authority 
over  his  tenant  than  obtains  in  the  United  States.  He  is 
usually  the  local  magistrate,  and  does  not  hesitate  to  adjudicate 
cases  in  which  he  is  personally  interested.  He  also  runs  a 
store  to  supply  his  tenants  with  necessary  articles,  and  as  credit 
is  easily  obtained,  the  tenant  is  seldom  free  from  debt. 

Through  a  large  part  of  the  Central  Valley  the  rains  are 
helped  out  by  irrigation,  hence  crops  are  much  surer  than  if 
entire  dependence  was  placed  on  the  bounty  of  the  elements. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  think  of  Chile  as  a  cattle  country,  for  it  is  not. 
Most  of  the  cattle  marketed  here  are  brought  from  Argentina, 
as  is  the  case  with  horses,  sheep  and  swine.  Pasturage  is  too 
scarce,  when  the  value  of  grains,  fruits  and  vegetables,  im- 
mense quantities  of  which  can  be  raised  from  one  acre,  is  taken 
into  consideration.  The  fruits  here  were  the  finest  I  had  ever 
eaten  in  any  part  of  the  world,  and  the  size  and  flavor  could 
not  be  improved  upon.  There  were  several  varieties  of  peaches 
and  melons  that  I  had  never  before  seen.  Grapes  do  exceed- 
ingly well,  and  the  flavor  equals  the  finest  French  and  German 
varieties.  There  are  many  vineyards  and  exceedingly  good 
wine  is  made,  much  of  which  is  exported. 

Soil  and  climate  alone  cannot  make  a  rich  country — it  also 
requires  energetic,  industrious  people.  Let  us  for  a  moment 
consider  the  people  of  Chile,  to  better  understand  the  results 
they  have  achieved.  At  the  outset  we  have  to  acknowledge 
that  the  Chileans  are  a  vigorous,  pushing  people.  In  such 
cases  there  is  always  "a  reason."  An  anecdote  will  serve  to 
illustrate. 


CHILE 


223 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PALACE,  SANTIAGO,  CHILE. 

One  quiet,  warm  summer  afternoon,  a  minister,  in  a  church 
at  the  edge  of  a  town,  was  trying  to  keep  one  portion  of  his 
congregation  awake  and  the  other  from  looking  out  of  the 
windows  at  a  baseball  game  that  was  being  played  on  grounds 
in  full  view  of  the  church.  He  was  pounding  the  pulpit  and 
speaking  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  demanding  to  know,  in  the 
language  of  his  text :  "What  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ?"  Paus- 
ing an  instant  for  oratorical  effect,  there  came  wafting  through 
the  windows  from  the  baseball  diamond,  the  clear,  shrill  com- 
mand of  an  excited  player,  "Slide  for  it !  Slide  for  it !" 

For  the  last  three  hundred  years  in  Chile  there  has  been 
some  vigorous  "sliding"  done.  It  has  produced  a  race  of  men 
and  women  who  are  perfectly  competent  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves and  their  country,  and  who  have  developed  a  nationality 
of  their  own. 


224  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

From  my  own  personal  point  of  view  I  cannot  agree  with 
them  in  everything.  They  picked  a  brutal  quarrel  with  Bolivia 
and  Peru  and  took  away  the  most  valuable  territory  of  those 
two  countries — the  nitrate  fields.  They  might  possibly  have 
been  excusable  on  the  basis  of  an  old  disputed  boundary  line, 
and  the  fact  that  Peru  joined  forces  with  Bolivia  in  a  quarrel 
that  was  not  hers,  but  the  world  will  long  find  it  difficult  to 
excuse  the  atrocities  and  destruction,  worthy  of  an  age  past 
and  gone,  that  were  committed  during  the  occupancy  of  Lima 
by  the  Chilean  army  after  the  war  was  over. 

The  foreign  capital  invested  in  Chile  is  largely  English, 
with  that  of  Germany  next.  The  country  has  been  settled, 
first  by  Spaniards,  second  by  Italians,  third  by  Germans,  and 
fourth  by  English  and  Irish.  There  are  about  one  hundred 
old  families,  many  of  them  bearing  pure  Irish  and  English 
names,  now  hyphenated  with  Spanish  prefixes  or  suffixes.  The 
"one  hundred  family"  control  of  governmental  affairs  is  fast 
disappearing.  One-half  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  and 
Congress  of  Chile  today  are  from  the  educated  element  of  the 
new  generation,  which  cannot  boast  of  belonging  to  the  "one 
hundred."  Education  is  fostered  in  every  way,  the  right  to 
vote  being  founded  entirely  on  this  basis,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  politicians  run  night  schools  just  before  important  elections. 

Morally,  Chile  has  much  to  accomplish.  It  is  said  that 
there  are  more  illegitimate  children  born  here  than  in  any  other 
country  in  South  America,  except  Paraguay,  although  there 


THE  ARTILLERY   BARRACKS,   SANTIAGO.   CHILE. 


CHILE 


225 


MUNICIPAL   THEATER,    SANTIAGO,    CHILE. 


are  no  statistics  on  the  question.  The  mortality  among  all 
classes  and  ages  is  very  great,  owing  to  the  insanitary  and  un- 
clean manner  in  which  many  of  the  people  live,  and  the 
prevalent  drunkenness  which  reduces  their  vitality.  This  condi- 
tion, however,  is  disappearing,  especially  in  the  big  cities  like 
Santiago  and  Valparaiso,  and  all  over  the  country  temperance 
societies  are  being  established  and  promoted  by  the  church  and 
best  citizens. 

The  Chileans  are  great  lovers  of  amusement,  and  as  the 
constitution  forbids  bull-fighting  and  there  are  no  lotteries,  they 
find  other  means  of  recreation.  Horse-racing  is  their  chief 
gambling  amusement,  and  football  (Rugby  style)  the  national 
game.  There  are  many  fine  horses  in  the  country  and  every- 
body rides  horseback.  They  are  fond  of  music  and  dancing, 
have  beautiful  parks  and  plazas  in  every  town  and  city, 
and  the  people  spend  much  time  out  of  doors. 

The  State  church  is,  of  course,  the  Catholic,  which  receives 
about  $500,000  (gold)  a  year  from  the  Government,  and  is 
15 


CHILE 


227 


very  rich.  There  is 
a  gradual  separa- 
tion going  on  be- 
tween the  Church 
and  State,  and  it  is 
only  a  matter  of 
time  when  they 
will  be  entirely 
separated,  as  in 
North  America  and 
most  Eur  o  p  e  a  n 
countries. 

The  Panama  Ca- 
nal will  not,  I  be- 
lieve, benefit  Chile 

much,  nor  hurt  it.  It  will  shorten  the  distance  between  Chile 
and  the  United  States  and  Europe  by  water  and  save  time  for 
passengers,  but  if  the  canal  toll  is  put  at  one  dollar  a  ton,  it 
will  be  cheaper  for  all  freight  to  go  from  Chile  around  by  the 
Straits  of  Magellan. 


TYPE  OF  PRIVATE  RESIDENCE,  SANTIAGO, 
CHILE. 


A    QUIET    RESIDENCE    STREET,    SANTIAGO,    CHILE. 


CHILE 


229 


The  unions  are  beginning  to  organize  here  and  the  labor 
people  have  several  members  of  Congress. 

Santiago,  the  capital  of  Chile,  with  a  population  of  400,000, 
lies  in  a  great  amphitheater  forty  miles  long  and  eighteen  miles 
wide,  enclosed  by  a  great  wall  of  mountains.  No  city  in  the 
world  has  a  finer  location.  There  are  many  beautiful  drives, 
parks  and  pleasure  resorts,  and  on  Sundays  and  holidays  the 
pleasure-loving  inhabitants  throng  these  places  in  great  num- 
bers. 


VIEW  IN   SANTA  LUCIA   PARK,   SANTIAGO,   CHILE. 

The  Alameda  Avenida  Delicias,  the  great  boulevard  of 
Santiago,  is  six  hundred  feet  wide  and  runs  the  full  length 
of  the  city.  The  finest  private  houses  front  on  the  Alameda. 
The  largest  of  these  are  of  Spanish  style,  being  built  around 
a  courtyard,  or  patio,  which  is  usually  open  to  the  sky  and  full 
of  flowers  and  shrubs,  and  often  ornamented  by  a  fountain  in 
the  center. 

Sixty-seven  miles  of  electric  tramways  are  operated  by  a 
private  company,  which  also  supplies  electric  light.  This  com- 


230 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


pany  is  an  English  corpo- 
ration, though  the  stock  is 
owned  by  Germans  and 
the  line  is  operated  by  the 
same  nationality.  The 
fare  on  the  tram  cars  is 
two  cents. 

The  women  of  Santiago 
are  unusually  beautiful, 
and  are  not  stout,  as  is 
usual  in  tropical  countries. 
Rich  and  poor  alike,  they 
all  wear  the  manto  over 
their  heads  when  they  go 
to  church  The  manto  is  a 
sort  of  black  shawl  folded 
in  such  a  manner  that  it  is 
very  becoming  to  the 
wearer. 

There  are  many 
churches  in  Santiago,  and 
the  great  cathedral  facing 
the  large  Plaza  de  Armas, 
in  the  center  of  the  city,  is 


PAVILION  IN      QUINTA  NORMAL/ 
COUSINO  PARK,   SANTIAGO. 


one  of  the  handsomest 
structures  in  the  world. 
It  occupies  the  entire  side 
of  the  'street  on  the  west 
of  the  plaza.  The  public 
buildings  are  very  fine 
structures  and  are  sub- 
stantially built.  The 
Monida,  a  massive  stone 
building,  now  the  resi- 
dence of  the  President  of 
the  republic,  contains  the 
mint  and  the  ministerial 


A  SANTIAGO  LADY  IN   MANTO. 


CHILE 


231 


offices.  I  observed  in  the  House  of  Congress  a  large  room 
where  they  keep  a  complete  set  of  books  and  literature  of  the 
United  States  Congress. 

Most  of  the  streets  in  Santiago  are  paved  with  asphalt,  and 
are  correspondingly  smooth.  The  policemen  carry  swords  in- 
stead of  the  "billy"  familiar  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  Quinta  Normal,  a  beautiful  park  given  to  the  city 
for  the  poor  by  the  late  Senora  Isadora  Cousino,  are  different 
breeds  of  dogs,  which  are  kept  in  cages  as  we  place  wild 
animals  in  our  own  parks.  The  Senora  was  at  one  time  re- 
puted to  be  the  richest  woman  in  the  world,  and  the  residence 
she  erected  in  Santiago  is  the  finest  on  the  Southern  Continent. 

But  the  park  of  parks  in  Santiago  is  Santa  Lucia.  For 
striking  and  picturesque  beauty  it  is  scarcely  equaled  any- 
where in  the  world.  It  is  a  steep  and  rocky  hill,  rising  to  a 
height  of  some  five  hundred  feet,  almost  in  the  heart  of  the 
city.  The  original  scanty  soil  of  this  towering  hill  has  been 
added  to  by  the  gardeners  until  it  has  become  an  exquisite  park, 


A  BIT  OF  THE  COUSINO  PARK,   SANTIAGO, 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


ENTRANCE  TO  SANTA  LUCIA  PARK,   SANTIAGO. 

lifting  its  green  and  varied  masses  of  verdure  above  the  city, 
like  a  great  hanging  garden.  It  is  a  most  beautiful  breathing 
place  for  the  people.  Flowers  and  creeping  vines  trail  over 
the  rocks  in  wild  profusion,  fountains  splash  bright  waters  in 
the  sunlight,  marble  statues  gleam  against  the  greenery  at 
every  turn,  cool  grottoes  invite  you  to  rest  in  the  shade,  and 
paths  and  roads  wind  here  and  there.  From  the  summit  one 
has  a  superb  view  of  the  city,  spread  out  at  one's  very  feet, 
beyond  it  the  wide,  fertile  plain,  and  far  away  on  the  horizon 
the  mighty  procession  of  the  snow-capped  Andes,  that  seem 
to  hem  the  city  in  on  every  side.  Beautiful  and  unique  is 
Santa  Lucia,  and  fortunately  situated  is  the  city  of  Santiago. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


IN   SOUTHERN    CENTRAL   CHILE. 

THOUGH  it  was  in  March,  the  time  was  late  summer  when 
we  left  Santiago,  going  still  further  toward  the  Antarctic ; 
that  is  to  say,  it  was  late  summer  in  this  world  beyond  the 
equator.  It  seemed  odd  to  say,  "We  are  going  South,  where  it 
is  colder,"  and  it  was  difficult  to  reconcile  the  fact  with  one's 
former  sense  of  direction 
when  one  was  compelled  to 
look  toward  the  north  to  see 
the  sun  and  moon. 

We  left  Santiago  one  even- 
i  n  g  on  an  electric-lighted 
Pullman  car,  to  travel  six 
hundred  miles  by  rail,  and 
then  through  a  broken  forest 
country.  I  had  instructed 
my  secretary  and  Charlie,  my 
servant,  to  pack  and  ship 
everything  to  Concepcion, 
where  we  were  to  take  the 
steamer  for  the  trip  through 
the  Straits  of  Magellan,  ex- 
cept such  absolute  necessities 
as  could  be  transported  on 

pack  horses.  Much  to  my  surprise  when  I  arrived  at  the 
station  I  found  my  secretary  with  his  silk  hat  box  in  one  hand, 
a  portable  bathtub  in  the  other,  and  wearing  his  tropical 
helmet  hat.  It  reminded  me  of  an  occasion  when  my  son  Ben, 
then  ten  years  of  age,  and  his  young  friend,  John  M.  Smyth, 
got  lost  in  the  woods,  half  a  mile  from  my  camp  in  Wisconsin, 
and  were  found  walking  along  the  river  carrying  an  old  can 
full  of  water,  fearing  that  they  would  die  of  thirst. 

233 


TRIUMPHAL  ARCH   IN   THE 
CAPITAL  OF  CHILE. 


234  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

The  first  three  hundred  miles  south  from  Santiago  lie  in  a 
part  of  Chile  that  has  been  well  settled  for  two  hundred  years 
by  large  farmers  (haciendas),  and  where  even  now  the  owners 
are  much  like  the  feudal  lords  of  bygone  days  in  England, 
France  and  Germany.  The  Spaniards  have  never  taken  kindly 
to  shopkeeping  or  manufacturing  and  even  the  hotels,  which 
are  not  half  bad,  are  run  by  foreigners — mostly  French,  Ital- 
ians and  Germans.  The  Spaniard's  idea  of  "quality"  is  that 
of  the  land  owner,  where,  surrounded  by  a  half-slave  race  of 
peons,  he  is,  to  this  day,  an  actual  lord. 

From  north  to  south  the  rainfall  increases,  and  irrigation 
gradually  disappears,  until  one  arrives  in  a  country  very  much 
like  our  Northern  Pacific  Coast  States.  The  products  are  the 
substantiate  of  life — meat  and  wheat,  with  all  the  hardy  varie- 
ties of  vegetables  and  fruits — apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums, 
grapes,  etc.  The  harvest  was  over  when  I  was  there,  in 
March,  and  the  fields  looked  bare,  but  the  stubble  showed  that 
there  had  been  a  heavy  crop  of  grain.  Wheat,  the  chief  grain 
raised,  is  of  a  very  hard  variety,  grading  with  our  No.  I  North- 
ern. There  are  no  elevators,  and  it  has  to  be  shipped  at  once. 
It  is  put  into  sacks,  two  hundred  pounds  to  the  sack,  and  shipped 
to  market  (seaport)  on  flat  cars,  and  the  traveler  will  see 
whole  train  loads  of  it  en  route.  It  sells  on  board  car  net,  less 
cost  of  sack,  at  85  cents  per  bushel.  I  found  no  big  cattle 
ranches,  but  every  farmer  raises  some  cattle  for  market.  This 
industry  is  more  extensive  farther  south. 

Our  first  stop  was  at  Temuco,  a  town  of  10,000  population, 
five  hundred  miles  south  of  Santiago.  I  was  no  sooner  settled 
comfortably  in  my  room  at  the  leading  hotel  when  the  Gov- 
ernor (Intendente)  called  upon  me,  according  to  instructions 
telegraphed  him  by  the  President  of  the  republic,  and  offered 
me  the  freedom  of  the  city  and  province,  after  which  I  was 
taken  for  a  horseback  ride,  dined  at  a  fashionable  club,  and 
shown  many  other  marks  of  hospitality.  The  following  is  a 
copy  of  a  note  written  in  English,  which  was  handed  me,  on 
leaving  Temuco,  by  the  Governor  of  the  province  of  Cautin : 


CHILE 


235 


MR.  BOYCE  WITH  ESCORT  OF  SOLDIERS  AND  GOVERNOR  AT 
TEMUCO,   CHILE. 

"Ricardo  Delez,  Intendente  of  the  province  of  Cautin,  has  the 
honor  once  more  of  presenting  to  the  distinguished  American  peri- 
odista,  Mr.  W.  D.  Boyce,  his  wishes  that  his  stay  in  the  province  in 
his  charge  be  agreeable,  and  feels  sorry  that  the  difficulties  of  the 
language  do  not  permit  him  expressing  this  desire  verbally. 

"Republic  of  Chile,  Temuco." 

That  is  the  polite  way  these  Castilian  gentlemen  have  of 
being  generous  to  strangers.  I  was  constantly  receiving  such 
pleasant  and  valuable  kindnesses  while  in  South  America. 

I  will  add  that  the  honorable  Governor  spoke  some  Eng- 
lish— about  as  much  as  I  did  Spanish — and  that  while  he  may 
not  have  been  able  to  understand  me  very  well,  I  understood 
him  better  when  he  spoke  Spanish  than  when  he  essayed  Eng- 
lish. The  Spanish  language  is  not  hard  to  learn,  being  spoken 
as  it  is  written,  each  vowel  having  but  one  sound. 


236 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


The  province  of  Cautin  is  a  comparatively  new  country, 
and  in  the  center  of  a  large  Indian  settlement.  The  Indians 
are  the  Araucanians,  that  brave,  hardy  race  that  taught  the 
Chileans  to  fight,  and  who  were  never  conquered,  but  finally, 
after  three  hundred  years,  became  partly  civilized.  As  far  back 
as  history  goes,  they  always  did  some  farming,  though  their 
principal  occupation  was  fighting.  There  is  no  record  of  there 
ever  having  been  enough  game  for  them  to  live  on,  as  was  the 
case  with  the  Indians  of  North  America.  At  this  season  of  the 
year  they  were  drawing  much  wheat  to  market.  Ox  carts  are 
used  for  all  hauling,  the  roads  being  too  rough  for  horses, 
except  for  riding.  No  corn  is  raised  in  this  part  of  the  country, 
or  in  any  part  of  Chile,  on  account  of  the  cold  nights.  The 
Humboldt  Antarctic  stream  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  only  a  com- 
paratively few  miles  away,  makes  a  blanket  necessary  at  night, 
even  when  crossing  the  equator.  ; . 

Our  next  stop  was  one  hundred  miles  farther  south  at 
Osorno,  a  German  town  of  8,000,  which,  like  all  towns  in  this 
part  of  Chile  is  built  of  wood  and  spread  out  over  a  big  area. 
I  have  observed  that  all  over  South  America  the  roofs  of  build- 
ings are  made  of  galvanized  sheet  iron  from  the  United  States. 
They  have  to  be  painted  at  once  to  prevent  rusting.  The  peo- 
ple complain  that  they  are  very  cold  in  the  winter  and  at  night, 
while  in  the  summer  and  in  the  daytime  they  are  extremely  hot. 


A  FAMILY  GOING  TO  MARKET  NEAR  TEMUCO,  CHILE. 


CHILE 


237 


They  do  not  use  tar  paper  or  prepared  tar  paper  roofing,  be- 
cause no  big  American  manufacturers  of  this  product,  such  as 
the  General  Roofing  Company  of  East  St.  Louis,  111.,  Mar- 
seilles, 111.,  and  York,  Pa.,  ever  asked  them  to.  Over  1,000 
tons  of  this  kind  of  roofing  are  used  every  day  in  the  United 
States,  but  the  people  of  South  America  never  heard  of  it,  and 
as  there  is  no  shingle  timber  in  this  country  they  use  what  they 
can  get,  which  is  galvanized  iron. 

The  first  German  settlement  in  this  section  was  in  1851  at 
Valdivia,  a  port  town,  northwest  of  Osorno,  where  the  Spanish 
had  tried  to  locate  for  two  hundred  years.  It  was  a  heavily- 
timbered  section,  but  the  hardy  Germans  soon  cleared  it  up, 
changing  the  entire  country.  They  were  aided  by  the  Chilean 
Government  in  colonization,  and  immigrants  came  so  fast  that 
the  Chileans  became  alarmed  and  began  to  discourage  them. 
The  Government  very  wisely  objects  to  the  settlement  of  too 
many  people  of  one  nationality  in  one  section  of  the  country. 
Similarly,  I  believe,  it  would  be  better  for  the  United  States  if 
the  people  from  each  foreign  country  were  scattered  more 
widely  than  they  are. 

The  chief  industry  of  Osorno  is  preparing  chaqui,  or  sun- 


CHAQUI,  OR  SUN-DRIED  MEAT,  AT  OSORNO,   CHILE. 


238  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

dried  meat,  and  there  are  two  packing  houses  engaged  in  this 
business.  They  buy  the  poor  old  cattle  principally,  and  one 
of  the  houses  buys  old  horses  as  well.  The  whole  carcass  is 
cut  into  thin  slices  which  are  laid  out  flat  on  bamboo  poles,  that 
are  raised  from  the  ground,  where  they  are  left  to  cure  in  the 
sun  and  air.  After  being  thoroughly  cured  the  meat  is  packed 
in  one-hundred-pound  bundles  and  shipped  north  to  the  nitrate 
fields  and  mines,  selling  at  twenty-five  cents  a  pound,  wholesale. 
At  this  point  it  may  be  of  interest  to  state  that  in  1910  a  con- 
sular report  estimated  that  Chile  has  approximately  700,000 
horses  and  mules,  2,500,000  head  of  cattle,  3,000,000  sheep, 
500,000  goats,  and  300,000  hogs.  About  450,000  cattle,  600,- 
ooo  sheep,  and  140,000  hogs  are  slaughtered  annually. 

Osorno  is  the  end  of  the  railroad  at  the  present  time,  an  ex- 
tension of  seventy  miles  to  Puerto  Montt  being  in  the  course 
of  construction.  Puerto  Montt  possesses  the  best  harbor  on 
the  Chilean  coast,  being  sheltered  from  the  storms  of  the  Pacific 
by  islands  in  all  directions. 

We  were  advised  that  we  could  ride  to  Lake  Llanquihue  in 
five  hours,  though  no  one  seemed  to  know  just  how  many  miles 
it  was  to  the  lake.  We  left  at  two  o'clock  p.  m.  and  at  seven 
we  were  less  than  halfway  to  our  destination.  We  stopped 
for  dinner  at  the  Hotel  Ingles,  kept  by  a  motherly  old  Eng- 
lish widow  of  the  late  Queen  Victoria  type,  who  forty  years 
ago,  when  a  charming  young  girl,  married  the  Chilean,  General 
Oliveres.  Here  I  enjoyed  the  first  glass  of  fresh  milk  I  had 
been  able  to  get  in  all  South  America. 

As  the  boat  crossing  the  lake  sailed  next  morning  at  six 
o'clock,  we  pushed  on,  arriving  at  our  destination  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  My  horse  gave  out,  so  I  walked  during  the  last 
three  hours  of  the  journey.  As  our  pack  horses  also  gave  out  I 
kept  myself  warm  by  stirring  them  up  occasionally  with  the 
aid  of  a  club.  My  secretary  went  to  sleep  on  his  horse  and 
fell  off ;  fortunately  he  alighted  on  his  head  and  his  big  helmet 
hat  saved  him  from  injury.  The  country  through  which  we 
passed  after  dark,  the  moon  going  down  at  nine  o'clock,  was  a 
dense  woods,  with  here  and  there  a  settler's  cabin  from  which 
big  packs  of  dogs  rushed  out  barking  and  snapping  as  if  they 
would  tear  us  to  pieces.  We  learned  afterward  that  this  forest 


CHILE 


239 


THE  SEA  WALL  AT  PUERTO  MONTT,  CHILE. 

is  infested  by  bands  of  robbers,  and  people  acquainted  with  the 
country  shun  it  at  night.  Frequently  I  instinctively  reached  for 
my  revolver,  and  Charlie  said  he  never  took  his  hand  off  his 
knife.  The  mozo  (the  man  in  charge  of  the  horses)  ob- 
jected to  making  the  trip  in  the  dark,  and  as  a  result  he  swore 
very  nearly  every  step  of  the  way.  If  any  one  wants  to  know 
the  distance  from  Osorno  to  Lake  Llanquihue  I  can  inform 
him  that  it  is  at  least  sixty  miles,  and  that  he  cannot  reach  it  in 
five  hours  on  horseback,  no  matter  what  the  natives  may  say. 

The  next  morning  we  learned  that  the  regular  boat,  on  ac- 
count of  making  many  stops,  could  not  take  us  across  the  lake 
in  time  for  us  to  reach  Puerto  Montt  and  return  that  day,  so  I 
hired  a  special  boat  to  take  us  across  and  back,  at  a  cost  of 
$120  Chilean  money — $30  United  States  money.  For  six 
hours  we  breasted  a  head-on  sea  and  heavy  wind,  all  the  time 
in  sight  of  snow-capped  mountains  and  white-capped  waves. 
We  were  never  out  of  sight  of  Mt.  Osorno,  a  peak  8,000  feet 
high,  which  was  once  an  active  volcano.  We  arrived  at  Puerto 
Viras  at  noon,  having  made  twenty  miles  in  the  six  hours, 
and  made  the  sixteen  miles  to  Puerto  Montt  in  three  hours, 
over  the  worst  road  I  have  ever  traveled. 


240  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

We  found  Puerto  Montt  a  representative  Holland  or 
North  German  city — clean  and  quiet,  with  grass,  geese  and 
healthy,  rosy-cheeked  children  in  the  streets.  As  before  stated, 
the  harbor  was  the  best  I  had  seen  since  leaving  Havana.  A 
great  concrete  seawall  protects  the  water-front.  The  city  lies 
in  a  semicircle  around  the  bay  at  the  base  of  a  line  of  hills  that 
are  from  three  hundred  to  five  hundred  feet  high  and  beautified 
by  gardens  and  vines.  We  stopped  here  only  long  enough  to 
drink  some  of  their  chic  ha  (cider)  made  from  apples  and 
pears,  a  combination  hard  to  equal,  and  to  take  some  photo- 
graphs. We  rode  back  to  the  lake  in  about  the  same  time  and 
took  dinner  at  eight  p.  m.  at  a  charming  little  German  hotel, 
while  our  captain  and  his  little  steamer  were  waiting  for  us. 
We  made  the  return  trip  across  the  lake  in  about  three  hours, 
but  nearly  swamped  several  times.  The  lake  was  the  roughest 
it  had  ever  been  in  his  experience,  the  old  navigator  informed 
us,  but  as  we  had  to  be  in  Osorno  by  the  following  evening  we 
faced  the  peril.  The  small  steamer  had  a  resounding  whistle, 
reminding  me  of  the  traditional  steamer  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  which  was  so  small  and  her  whistle  so  great,  that  every 
time  the  captain  blew  the  whistle  the  boat  stopped  for  lack  of 
steam. 

At  six  a.  m.  we  "forked"  our  horses,  and  at  six  p.  m.,  tired 
and  stiff,  we  rolled  off  at  our  starting  point,  having  made  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  miles  in  fifty-four  hours,  the  quickest 
time  on  record  for  the  journey.  Wre  did  not  have  our  clothes 
off  during  the  trip,  but  all  I  needed  to  recuperate  from  the 
fatigue  was  a  bath  and  a  good  night's  rest. 

The  journey  was  replete  with  interesting  and  sometimes 
odd  sights.  Blackberries  were  ripe,  and  the  bushes  and  vines 
were  the  largest  I  have  ever  seen.  They  ran  on  the  ground,  piled 
up  in  masses,  climbed  trees  where  they  got  the  chance,  and  in  one 
instance,  the  bushes  were  twenty  feet  high.  The  berries  were 
exceedingly  juicy  and  plentiful.  I  judged  that  at  least  50,000 
bushels  could  have  been  picked  from  the  bushes  we  passed  on 
the  way.  The  vines  are  said  to  be  a  great  injury  to  the  coun- 
try, as  they  grow  every  place  and  kill  many  trees.  The  clear- 
ings and  fields  were  covered  with  thistles. 

The  cattle  and  horses  do  something  here  that  I  have  never 


CHILE 


241 


observed  elsewhere.  In  the  winter  time  the  grass  is  poor  and 
the  ground  so  wet  that  it  is  difficult  for  them  to  get  a  living,  as 
the  people  put  up  no  hay  and  burn  their  straw.  The  cattle  and 
horses  browse  about,  living  on  the  leaf  of  a  species  of  bamboo 
that  thrives  here,  unless,  destroyed.  It  looks  something  like 
the  elephant  grass  I  saw  in  Africa,  only  it  is  not  so  tall.  In 
Africa  it  grows  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  high,  while  here  it  is 
only  three  to  five  feet  in  height  and  is  willowy,  bending  so 
easily  that  at  first  I  thought  it  was  a  species  of  willow.  How- 
ever, the  cattle  keep  in  good  condition,  and  I  was  told  that  the 
milk  of  the  cows  was  wholesome  and  sweet. 

The  absence  of  bird  life,  especially  at  "berry  time,"  struck 
me  as  very  peculiar,  but  I  could  get  no  explanation.  I  had 
seen  no  game  birds  nor  game  of  any  kind;  had  seen  no  one 
shooting,  and  in  fact  heard  but  one  gun  fired.  There  were  no 
mosquitoes,  nor  insects  of  any  kind  in  this  country,  and  I  did 
not  see  a  screened  window  in  all  Chile. 

Speaking  of  windows,  the  low-caste  Indians  of  Chile  build 


BLACKBERRY  BUSHES  ALONG  ROAD,  OSORNO  TO  PUERTO    MONTT,   CHILE. 


16 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


their  houses  without  windows,  floors  or  chimneys.  They  make 
a  fire  in  a  hole  in  the  ground,  which  is  lined  with  stones,  and 
put  into  this  hole  all  they  have  to  cook — meat,  fish  or  anything 
else — and  then  put  in  some  hot  stones  and  cover  the  top  with 
mud,  cooking  the  entire  mess  together.  When  the  food  is 
sufficiently  done,  all  hands,  including  dogs  and  hogs,  gather  to 
the  feast,  eating  out  of  the  hole  in  the  ground,  the  people  using 
their  fingers  as  forks.  Possibly  it  was  savory  enough,  but  cer- 
tainly not  very  inviting. 

The  ponchos,  that  are  worn  by  everybody  in  this  section, 
are  very  brilliant  in  colors,  being 
mostly  striped  red  and  yellow  or 
blue  and  gold.  They  are  very 
warm,  and  are  exceedingly  pic- 
turesque, as  they  flap  in  the  wind 
on  the  horseman  who  usually 
rides  at  a  gallop. 

The  roto  does  the  only  real 
labor  that  is  done,  except  that 
performed  by  the  immigrant. 
The  pay  for  a  roto  is  two  to 
three  pesos  per  day,  fifty  to 
seventy-five  cents  in  United 
States  money,  hence  this  is  no 
country  for  the  white  laborer. 
The  farmer,  immigrant  or  mer- 
chant, can  carve  out  a  place  for 
himself  not  possible  in  an  older 
and  more  settled  country.  He 
will  do  better  still  if  he  is  Span- 
ish, Italian,  or  of  Latin  blood 

and  breeding.  To  a  man  from  the  United  States  it  seems  odd 
to  see  everything  moved  by  ox  carts,  many  very  primitive, 
with  solid  wooden  hubs  and  wheels  made  by  cutting  off  the 
end  of  a  log.  One  can  hear  them  squeak  for  a  mile  or  more, 
and  it  reminded  me  of  the  old  Red  River  of  the  North  carts 
used  by  the  Indians  and  traders  in  the  early  days  of  the  North- 
west. 

From  about  40  degrees  south  to  the  Antarctic  Ocean,  a  dis- 


COWBOY  OF   SOUTHERN   CENTRA] 
CHILE. 


CHILE  243 

tance  of  one  th'ousand  miles,  Chile  is  one  vast  forest,  the  trees 
becoming  smaller  and  more  stunted  in  growth,  the  farther 
south  one  goes.  The  country  is  rugged  and  the  "sliver"  of 
land  along  the  coast,  or  back  to  the  Argentina  line,  is  only 
about  fifty  miles  wide.  There  are  many  bays  and  rivers,  but 
the  Pacific  Ocean  is  so  dangerous  to  navigate  along  this  coast 
that  it  is  difficult  to  get  the  timber  to  market.  The  Indians 
have  cut  all  the  soft  woods  and  floated  them  to  market,  but  the 
hard  woods  will  not  float.  For  years  the  medium  of  exchange 
—the  only  "money" — was  planks  and  boards  delivered  at  some 
port  and  exchanged  for  brandy,  medicine,  and  firearms,  with 
some  little  coast-trader  sailing  ship.  The  only  white  men 
who  have  ever  gone  through  a  large  part  of  this  country  were 
the  members  of  the  Boundary  Commission. 

From  Puerto  Montt  north  for  two  hundred  miles,  between 
the  mountains  and  ocean,  there  are  little  sawmills — we  would 
call  them  "portable" — driven  by  traction  engines.  The  heavy 
timber  is  cut  and  hewed  square  where  the  tree  falls,  to  save 
weight  in  taking  it  to  the  mills.  I  watched  many  of  these 
little  mills  at  work,  and  formed  the  opinion  that  there  would 
be  great  profits  in  this  country  for  enterprising  firms  of  the 
United  States,  if  they  would  but  introduce  our  sawmill  ma- 
chinery into  southern  Chile. 

Of  the  standing  timber  which  I  observed,  only  the  cypress 
and  poplar  look  anything  like  the  trees  of  North  America,  and 
the  names  are  quite  different.  A  tree  called  alerce  has  a  great 
white  trunk  or  stem,  and  grows  sometimes  to  a  height  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  feet,  with  a  diameter  of  fifteen  feet.  It  is 
something  like  the  California  redwood,  and  the  timber  is  ex- 
cellent. Cypress  is  found  all  the  way  to  Cape  Horn,  but  be- 
comes stunted  as  you  go  south.  Roblepellin,  which  is  very 
heavy,  is  used  for  posts,  piles  and  bridges,  and  will  last  one 
hundred  years  in  water.  It  is  very  plentiful.  Rauli  is  used 
for  all  inside  house-finishing  work,  making  fine  flooring;  it  is 
also  used  in  making  furniture,  and  is  cheap  and  abundant. 
Lingue  is  a  very  strong  and  heavy  timber,  being  used  for  casks, 
barrels,  carts,  and  fine  furniture,  on  which  hand  or  machine 
carving  can  be  beautifully  executed.  Avellano  is  a  beautiful 
spotted  wood,  used  only  for  fine  furniture,  and  is  getting  very 


244  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

scarce.  However,  it  should  be  remembered  that  there  are  still 
one  thousand  miles  of  forest  belonging  to  the  Government  that 
have  never  been  surveyed  or  explored. 

I  observed  the  usual  wanton  destruction  of  fine  forests  to 
make  room  for  settlers'  fields  by  "ringing"  trees  and  then  set- 
ting them  on  fire  after  they  had  died.  This  is  really  criminal  in 
any  country.  In  the  United  States  we  have  been  paying  dearly 
for  the  foolish  destruction  of  our  forests.  The  quantity  of 
timber  left  has  become  so  scarce  that  a  gigantic  trust  now  con- 
trols the  lumber  market  of  the  United  States  and  charges 
whatever  price  it  can  squeeze  out  of  the  public.  Here  the 
price  is  $10  to  $20  per  thousand  feet,  and  as  this  is  the  only 
great  timber  belt  left  in  the  world,  at  present  accessible,  it  is  a 
wonder  that  the  Lumber  Trust  does  not  try  to  monopolize  it  in 
some  way.  If  the  Chilean  Government  does  not  keep  a  sharp 
lookout,  it  will. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
PHASES  OF  CHILEAN  GOVERNMENT. 

HT^HERE  are  no  States  in  any  republic  in  South  America,  on 
JL  the  Pacific  coast — only  provinces,  governed  by  appointees 
of  the  President.  Otherwise  there  would  always  be  wars  or 
revolutions.  A  strong  centralized  government  is  absolutely 
essential  to  impart  solidity  and  permanence  to  these  re- 
publics. Again,  the  provinces  are  divided  into  districts,  and 
again  the  President  appoints  the  rulers,  or  as  they  are  called, 
Governors  of  Departments.  Chile  has  twenty-three  provinces 
and  one  territory,  each  with  an  Intendente,  or  Chief  Governor, 
and  I  do  not  know  how  many  departments,  similar  to  our  Con- 
gressional districts;  but  all  are  ruled  by  direct  appointees  of  the 
President.  The  municipal  organizations,  or  cities,  including  the 
police  of  the  cities,  are  directly  under  the  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, who  is  one  of  the  President's  Cabinet.  Thus,  you  ob- 
serve, everything  tends  to  a  very  strong  centralized  govern- 
ment, which  reaches  into  every  corner  and  small  hamlet  of  the 
entire  republic. 

Strange  to  say,  and  almost  beyond  belief  or  understanding 
to  a  North  American,  this  system  does  not  tend  toward  per- 
petuation in  office  of  one  political  party.  The  President  is 
elected  for  four  years,  and  is  not  eligible  to  immediate  re-elec- 
tion. The  latter  fact  serves  as  a  check  upon  party  continuity. 
Many  people  in  the  United  States  favor  the  election  of  the 
President  for  six  years,  with  a  law  making  him  ineligible  to  re- 
election. This  would  take  the  chief  executive  out  of  politics 
and  make  him  the  President  of  all  the  people  instead  of  a 
party. 

The  great  difference  between  the  political  system  of  the 
United  States  and  that  of  Chile  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  Cabi- 
net of  the  President  of  Chile  is  not  selected  by  him,  a 

245 


i 


CHILE  247 

majority  of  this  body  being  chosen  by  the  Congress.  This, 
if  applied  to  the  United  States,  would  mean  that  a  Repub- 
lican President  might  have  a  Democratic  Cabinet.  Each 
Cabinet  member  of  the  Government  of  Chile  has  the  right 
to  introduce  certain  bills  in  Congress,  and  whenever  a  bill 
introduced  by  a  Cabinet  member  is  voted  down,  the  entire 
Cabinet  resigns,  as  it  is  shown,  thereby,  that  the  Congress 
and  President's  advisers  are  not  working  in  harmony, 
and  it  then  becomes  necessary  to  appoint  a  new  Cabinet. 
During  the  past  ten  years  there  have  been  ten  new  Cabinets 
in  Chile,  and  it  has  kept  the  President's  party  busy  keeping  up 
with  the  changes.  One  excellent  thing  arises  from  this  system 
— no  party  stays  in  power  long  enough  to  become  corrupt. 
Nominally,  the  Liberal  party  has  been  in  power  here  for  years, 
but  the  many  changes  in  the  Cabinet  membership  show  that 
the  party's  continuation  in  power  is  rather  in  name  than  in  fact. 

The  Congress  is  absolutely  supreme,  and  is  composed  of 
Senators,  elected  for  six  years,  and  members  of  the  House, 
elected  for  three  years,  instead  of  two,  as  in  the  United  States. 
Members  of  the  House,  however,  receive  no  pay.  Two  years 
is  entirely  too  short  a  period  for  any  member  of  Congress  to 
show  that  he  even  ought  to  have  been  elected;  three  years  is 
somewhat  better. 

Of  course,  in  Chile  the  strong  arm  for  the  execution  of  the 
laws  and  for  the  enforcement  of  the  constitution  is  the  courts. 
Here  the  system  is  somewhat  different  from  that  of  the  United 
States,  the  judges  being  appointed  by  the  President,  but  only, 
in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  country,  upon  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  judges  already  holding  office.  Judges  are  appointed 
for  life,  or  during  good  behavior.  This  takes  them  away  from  the 
corrupting  influence  of  politics — a  consummation  to  be  heart- 
ily approved.  Strange  to  say,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Chile,  Hon.  Julius  Foster,  is  the  son  of  a  merchant 
from  the  United  States,  who  came  here  years  ago  and  married 
a  Chilean  lady.  He  is  a  brilliant  jurist,  highly  respected  and 
honored,  and  one  of  the  most  delightful  men  I  met  in  South 
America.  I  am  satisfied  from  all  I  can  learn  of  the  courts, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  that  they  are  equal  in  fairness 
and  impartiality  to  the  courts  of  the  United  States.  This  is 


248  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

absolutely  essential  to  a  foreigner  doing  business  in  any 
country. 

The  Chilean  army  and  navy  are  respected  and  feared,  not 
only  by  the  people  of  this  republic,  but  by  all  other  South 
American  countries.  The  army  has  17,500  officers  and  men  in 
time  of  peace,  with  a  possible  increase  to  150,000  in  time  of 
war.  The  service  is  well-officered  and  equipped  with  the 
very  latest  arms,  the  men  being  trained  by  European  army  of- 
ficers. 

Owing  to  the  necessity  of  protecting  the  2,700  miles  of 
coast  of  this  "sliver"  republic,  the  navy  is  absolutely  of  the 
first  importance,  and  it  has  never  been  defeated.  Lord  Coch- 
rane,  of  England,  who  organized  the  first  Chilean  navy,  during 
the  struggle  for  independence  from  Spain  in  1810-1818,  did 
more  for  Chile's  success  in  that  war  than  any  other  one  man. 
His  originality  and  courage  set  an  example  that  has  been 
worthily  followed  ever  since.  Chile's  navy  ranks,  with  7,000 
officers  and  men,  eighth  in  strength  and  importance  in  the 
world. 

The  unit  of  money  is  the  dirty  paper  peso,  or,  at  par, 
thirty-six  cents  in  United  States  money.  It  is  redeemable  in 
gold  in  1915 — if  not  worn  out  before  that  time — yet,  it  is  only 
worth  twenty-three  cents  in  gold  today.  This  is  difficult  to 
understand  until  you  learn  that  all  the  old  obligations  and  mort- 
gages given  are  payable  in  pesos,  and  do  not  specify  "gold"  as 
United  States  mortgages  do,  and  so  long  as  they  can  keep  the 
value  down  they  are  paying  off  their  debts  with  a  depreciated 
currency  on  a  par  basis. 

Chile  has  now  $25,000,000  in  gold  deposited  in  New  York 
and  London,  out  of  reach  for  possible  use  for  any  other  pur- 
pose than  to  enable  her  to  "make  good"  in  redeeming  the  paper 
money,  and  in  reaching  a  gold  basis  in  1915.  Many  citizens  of 
Chile  doubt  that  she  will  "resume"  at  that  date,  and  are  making 
all  obligations  payable  in  "gold"  pesos.  Silver  money  is  re- 
deemable in  gold.  Chile  has  no  national  banks  and  the  Govern- 
ment issues  all  the  money.  However,  there  are  many  banks, 
and  branch  banks  of  foreign  banking  houses.  Every  important 
country  is  represented,  except  the  United  States. 

The  Government  of  Chile  ought  to  be  able  to  go  on  a  gold 


250  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

basis,  except  for  her  unwarranted  expense  in  building  up  a 
navy.  She  has  the  largest  income  per  capita  of  any  country  in 
the  world.  Chile  has  only  4,000,000  people,  yet  she  receives 
$50,000,000  a  year  from  export — not  import — duties,  prin- 
cipally from  the  nitrate  industry.  She  is  extracting  her  wealth 
from  other  countries,  not  from  her  own  people,  as  is  done  by 
the  import  duties  of  the  United  States. 

There  is  no  reason  why  Chile  should  have  any  foreign  war, 
as  all  her  boundary  lines,  the  cause  of  South  American  wars, 
have  been  settled — especially  the  dangerous  one  with  Argen- 
tina. Peru  would  like  to  get  back  her  lost  province,  but  she 
never  will,  as  she  is  too  poor  to  build  a  navy  to  contest  the  ques- 
tion with  Chile. 

Taxes  are  very  low,  and  are  for  the  most  part  assessed 
against  real  estate — the  visible  property — something  on  the 
order  of  the  Henry  George  theory  of  the  single  tax.  Mer- 
chandise, mining  and  manufacturing  pay  but  very  little. 

There  are  no  Government  monopolies,  as  there  are  in 
other  South  American  and  European  countries.  The  tariff, 
or  import  taxes,  on  merchandise  and  tobacco  is  very  small,  and 
nothing  on  most  machinery,  paper,  books  or  anything  that  tends 
toward  the  development  of  the  country.  The  liquor  and  beer 
tax  is  quite  high  and  will  be  made  higher  to  discourage  so  much 
drinking,  which  is  the  curse  of  the  country.  '  Up  to  twenty 
years  ago  Chile  was  a  free  trade  country. 

The  Postal  Department  is  admirably  conducted  on  broad 
lines,  and  as  the  Government  owns  the  railroads,  the  postal 
system  is  not  run,  as  in  the  United  States,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
railroads.  Postage  is  the  same  for  letters  as  in  the  United 
States ;  newspapers  and  periodicals  are  free,  as  they  should  be 
in  every  country.  Even  Canada  charges  only  one-half  the  rate 
charged  by  the  United  States  for  newspapers  and  periodicals. 
The  Chilean  parcels  post  is  the  most  advanced  and  practical  of 
any  in  the  world.  The  rate  charged  for  this  class  of  matter  is 
one-half  that  charged  by  the  United  States  Government,  and 
every  postoffice  is  a  custom  house  where  duties  can  be  paid  on 
all  merchandise  received  by  mail  from  foreign  countries. 
Montgomery  Ward  &  Co.,  of  Chicago,  do  a  large  mail  order 
business  in  Chile.  This  firm  distributes  catalogues  to  the  citi- 


CHILE 


251 


RAILWAY    STATION,    TALCAHUANO,    CHILE. 

zens  of  Chile,  in  Spanish.  The  Postal  Department  also  guar- 
antees delivery  for  a  small  fee,  insures  all  such  packages,  and 
will  handle  the  same  C.  O.  D. ;  in  other  wrords,  it  does  the  ex- 
press business  of  the  country,  which  our  Postal  Department 
has  handed  over  to  the  express  monopoly  of  the  United  States. 
Notwithstanding  its  excellence  in  service,  and  the  many  con- 
veniences it  affords,  the  Postal  Department  of  Chile  pays  a 
profit ! 

In  one  respect  Chile  is  unfortunate — she  had  to  build  her 
own  railroads,  quickly  to  develop  and  protect  her  country, 
and  she  thereby  created  a  national  debt  of  $125,000,000.  This 
is  not  a  very  large  debt,  considering  the  fact  that  the  railroads 
could  be  sold  easily  for  that  sum,  wiping  out  the  debt  entirely. 
However,  in  building  her  own  railroads  she  has  saved  her 
public  lands,  which  is  in  contrast  to  the  execrable  policy  of  the 
United  States  Government  in  giving  away  the  people's  domain 
to  the  railroads,  which  now  charge  the  public  five  times  as 
much  for  carrying  the  mail  as  they  do  the  express  companies 
for  the  very  same  service,  and  often  in  the  same  car.  The 
railroads  here  are  operated  for  the  people,  but  they  are  not 
well  operated,  because  the  employes  are  all  on  the  Government 


252  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

payroll,  instead  of  in  the  employ  of  some  well-operated  cor- 
poration. The  management  of  the  railroads  changes  with  the 
change  of  governmental  officials,  and  the  equipment  of  the 
roads  is  a  veritable  junk  shop,  being  composed  of  a  mixture 
of  American,  English,  German,  French  and  Spanish  cars  and 
locomotives  that  do  not  work  well  together.  They  have  some 
of  the  best  passenger  and  freight  cars  I  have  ever  seen,  and 
some  of  the  poorest.  One  never  knows  when  one  is  going  to 
"get  there,"  and  might  quite  as  well  be  on  a  sailing  vessel. 

The  rates  charged  are  much  lower  than  in  the  United  States 
or  Europe,  and  the  roads  are  operated  at  a  big  loss,  to  say 
nothing  about  the  interest  on  the  investment.  The  Govern- 
ment has  2,000  miles  in  operation  and  is  building  2,000  miles 
more.  The  gauge  varies  from  three  feet  three  inches  to  five 
feet  six  inches.  The  standard  gauge  the  world  over,  except  in 
Russia,  is  four  feet  eight  and  one-half  inches.  There  has  been 
talk  in  Chile  of  the  Government  leasing  the  roads  to  some 
responsible  syndicate  that  will  standardize  the  whole  system, 
and  many  of  the  people  hope  that  the  project  will  not  end  in 
talk.  There  are  about  eight  hundred  miles  of  well-conducted, 
privately-owned  roads  to  mines  and  other  industries.  These 
roads  charge  a  higher  rate  than  the  Government  roads — about 
the  same  as  in  the  United  States — but  they  are  run  in  a  busi- 
nesslike way  and  the  service  is  worth  more  to  the  traveler  and 
shipper. 

My  next  topic  is  one  on  which  I  speak  advisedly — the  news- 
paper and  publishing  business.  If  the  circulation  of  the  blood 
in  your  body  is  poor,  you  are  unhealthy ;  if  the  circulation  of 
newspapers,  periodicals  and  books  is  discouraged,  made  ex- 
pensive, or  hampered  in  any  way,  in  any  country,  the  body 
politic,  moral  and  physical,  becomes  stagnant  and  unhealthy. 
The  constitution  of  Chile,  like  that  of  the  United  States,  de- 
clares for  the  freedom  of  the  press.  In  Chile  there  is  absolute 
freedom  in  the  matter  of  printing  anything,  reading  matter  or 
advertisements,  that  the  publisher  may  wish  or  his  readers 
want.  Not  so  in  the  United  States !  The  Postmaster  General 
daily  violates  the  Constitution  of  the  Union  by  his  decision  of 
what  a  publisher  may  print,  and,  if  he  wishes  to,  he  rules  a 
publication  out  of  the  mails,  killing  it — and  the  publisher's 


CHILE 


253 


work  of  a  lifetime  may  be  ruined.  Of  course,  years  afterward 
he  may  get  his  publication  back  into  the  mails,  through  a  court 
decision,  but  it  is  too  late — the  subscribers  and  business  are 
gone,  and  he  must  start  all  over  again. 

Again,  the  Chilean  Government,  believing  in  the  education 
of  the  masses,  encourages  the  circulation  of  all  publications 
possible  by  charging  no  postage,  and,  of  course,  the  readers 
receive  the  benefit.  Again,  Chile,  believing  in  education,  has 
no  duty  on  white  or  blank  paper  of  any  kind  for  newspaper, 
periodical  or  book  printing.  The  result  is  that  white  paper, 
made  in  the  United  States,  is  sold  here  for  less  than  I  pay  for 
the  paper  on  which  my  publications  are  printed,  in  Chicago.  If 
the  United  States  Postal  Department  was  run  on  the  same 
broad  basis  as  that  of  Chile,  the  rate  of  postage  on  all  classes 


THE    CATHEDRAL,    SANTIAGO,    CHILE. 


254  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

of  matter  could  be  cut  in  half  and  the  postal  deficit  entirely 
eliminated.  We  publishers  in  the  United  States  should  at  least 
be  able  to  get  our  print  paper  at  home  as  cheaply  as  they  get  it 
here,  shipped,  as  it  is,  more  than  10,000  miles  by  rail  and  water 
— and  every  reader  in  the  United  States  would  be  benefited 
thereby. 

The  oldest  paper  in  South  America  is  El  Mercuric,  pub- 
lished now  in  four  Chilean  cities,  with  four  separate  offices, 
which  are  completely  equipped  from  the  United  States,  and  are 
equal  to  our  best  plants,  the  mechanical  managers  being  from 
the  United  States.  In  Santiago,  as  well  as  in  the  other  cities 
where  it  is  published,  El  Mercurio  has  the  largest  circulation, 
although  there  are  other  very  enterprising  and  well-patronized 
publications.  Forty  per  cent  of  the  population  of  4,000,000 
can  read,  so  there  is  a  reading  public  of  1,600,000.  In  all,  Chile 
has  330  publications — 150  dailies,  150  weeklies,  semi-weeklies 
and  E.  O.  D.'s  (every  other  day),  and  twenty  monthlies.  No 
person  in  Chile  can  vote  unless  he  can  read,  and  every  man  and 
boy  is  learning  to  read.  Chile  has  double  the  reading  popula- 
tion percentage  of  any  other  country  in  South  America,  and  it 
is  largely  due  to  the  liberal  treatment  of  the  press. 

The  most  encouraging  characteristic  I  observed  about  the 
Chileans  was  that  no  difference  how  well  they  do  anything 
they  say :  "We  can  do  that  better."  They  are  continually  put- 
ting the  standard  of  everything  higher  and  trying  to  reach  it — 
that  is  why  they  are  so  successful. 

The  United  States  Minister  to  Chile  is  Honorable  Henry  P. 
Fletcher  of  Pennsylvania.  He  has  represented  the  United 
States  as  secretary  of  the  legation  at  China  and  Portugal,  and 
was  appointed  minister  to  Chile  on  account  of  his  good  record, 
without  even  applying  for  the  post  or  knowing  that  he  was 
being  considered,  until  he  read  of  his  appointment  in  the  press. 
The  United  States  Government  has  at  last  realized  the  mistake 
of  sending  unfit  men  to  South  America,  and  that  the  damaging 
impression  made  thereby  must  be  obliterated.  Therefore,  we 
are  now  sending  our  best  diplomats,  but  we  should  pay  them 
salaries  that  would  induce  them  to  remain  in  the  service  con- 
tinuously. 

The  mines  of  Chile  have  been  of  great  importance  through- 


CHILE 


255 


out  her  history.  The  country  contains  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead 
and  iron  as  well  as  coal,  nitrate  and  borates.  The  Caracoles 
silver  mines,  10,000  feet  above  sea  level,  are  famous  for  their 
production. 

Many  fortunes  have  been  made  from  copper  mining,  and 
there  are  many  establishments  for  working  ores,  and  nearly  all 
treat  the  ores  by  smelting,  though  the  number  of  smelters 
is  not  sufficient  to  regulate  the  price;  of  metal  in  the  country. 
An  American  company,  the  Bradqn  Copper  Company  (the 
Guggenheim  interests)  have  large  mines  at  Rancagua,  some 
two  hours  by  rail  from  Santiago,  where  3,000  men  are  em- 
ployed, and  there  are  many  hustling  young  men  from  Montana 
among  them. 

Chilean  coal  mining  is  an  important  industry  today,  this 
important  product  having  been  discovered  at  Lota,  near  the 
city  of  Concepcion  in  1805.  The  property  was  bought  by  Don 
Matias  Cousino,  the  history  of  whose  family  would  alone  make 


BRINGING    NOONTIME    LUNCH    FOR    THE    MINERS    AT    THE    LOTA 
COAL    MINES,    CHILE. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


an  interesting  chapter.  Don  Matias  established  fire  brick  and 
tile  works  and  a  smelter,  and  later  the  present  company  was 
formed,  all  the  shares  being  held  by  the  members  of  the  Cousino 
family.  The  strata  of  these  great  coal  mines  dip  to  the  west, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  workings  are  below  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Today  all  the  latest  appliances  are  used,  electric  tram  cars 
bringing  the  coal  from  the  shafts,  while  the  galleries  are  lighted 
by  electricity.  There  are  five  pits,  which  produce  from  eight 
hundred  to  one  thousand  tons  a  day.  There  are  about  6,000 
men  employed  by  the  company,  which  also  owns  a  great  landed 
property.  A  church,  hospital  and  free  medical  attention  are 
provided  for  the  men.  It  is  said  that  the  net  profits  of  this 
concern  are  $1,200,000  a  year. 

At  Cebollar,  on  the  pampas  back  of  Antofagasta,  are  the 
largest  borax  deposits  in  South  America,  and  they  are  operated 
by  the  same  company  that  operates  in  Death  Valley,  California. 

An  aerial  tramway 
brings  down  from  the 
mountains  dry  moss, 
which  is  used  for  fuel. 
During  the  period  of 
Spanish  rule  in  Chile 
the  only  currency  of 
the  country  was  gold 
dust,  and  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  Chile  today 
part  of  the  population 
gains  a  living  by  treat- 
ing the  gold-bearing 
sands  of  the  rivers  and 
streams  by  the  old 
method  of  cradle  and 
pan.  Gold  is  also 
found  in  veins,  inclosed 
in  veins  of  copper  or 
natural  silver;  but  the 
work  is  for  the  most 
part  done  in  a  primi- 
tive manner. 


A  CORNER  OF  THE  SPLENDID  COUSINO 
MANSION,  LOTA,  CHILE. 


CHILE 


257 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  MONUMENT,   CONCEPCION, 
CHILE. 

In  Chile  there  are  numerous  interesting  things  that  might 
be  described.  Indeed,  a  useful  volume  might  be  written  rela- 
tive to  this  remarkable  country  and  its  vigorous  and  intelligent 
people ;  but  in  covering  a  vast  continent  like  South  America  the 
observer  can,  obviously,  treat  no  more  than  the  most  salient 
points  of  each  country. 


17 


THE  STRAITS  AND  FALKLAND  ISLANDS 

Straits  discovered  by  Fernando  de  Magellan  in  1519 — Probably 
delayed  the  digging  of  the  Panama  Canal  hundreds  of 
years — The  Straits  a  picturesque  but  dangerous  passage 
from  ocean  to  ocean — Punta  Arenas,  on  the  Straits,  the 
world's  farthest  city  south — Falkland  Islands,  twenty-two 
in  number,  English  possessions — Area,  7,500  square  miles 
— Population,  2,336,  mostly  Scotch  and  English — Chief  in- 
dustries, whaling  and  raising  sheep. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
THROUGH  THE  STRAITS. 

FROM  Concepcion,  the  third  largest  city  of  the  Republic  of 
Chile,  half  an  hour  by  train  brought  us  to  the  port  of  Tal- 
cahuano,  where  lies  the  Chilean  naval  base,  a  very  impressive 
establishment  of  shops  and  dry  docks.  Soon  after  that  we 
were  on  the  broad  breast  of  the  Pacific  out  of  sight  of  land, 
heading  for  the  dreaded  Straits  of  Magellan.  In  all  the  vast 
region  about  the  southern  tip  of  the  South  American  con- 
tinent the  winds  pour  cold  and  strong  from  out  the  Antarctic 
Ocean  and  navigation  is  dangerous.  It  is  a  cold,  rough  world, 
the  history  of  which  is  largely  a  story  of  shipwrecks. 

As  I  stood  on  the  Oronsa's  deck,  looking  toward  the  coast 
of  Chile,  I  thought  of  the  thousands  of  human  faces  we  had- 
looked  upon  in  our  long  journey  from  Panama,  of  the  varied 
shades  of  nationalities  and  types,  the  numerous  languages  and 
dialects  used  in  seeking  expression,  yet  clearly  we  were  all 
brothers.  In  proof  of  this  I  reflected  that  we  had  addressed 
numerous  Indian  guides  and  porters  and  waiters  by  such 
familiar  and  fraternal  names  as  Jim  and  Joe  and  Jack,  mainly 
because  we  found  it  impossible  to  pronounce  their  real  names. 
Our  experience  in  this  respect  was  not  unlike  that  of  a  delight- 
ful young  woman  of  New  York,  who  married  a  San  Francisco 
man.  Her  first  act  in  organizing  her  domestic  establishment 
was  the  engaging  of  a  Chinese  cook. 

258 


THE  STRAITS  AND  FALKLAND  ISLANDS     259 

"What's  your  name?"  she  asked,  when  the  preliminaries 
had  been  settled. 

"My  name  Hong  Long  Loo,"  said  the  Celestial,  with  much 
gravity. 

"And  I  am  Mrs.  Harrington  Richard  Buckingham,"  said 
the  new  employer.  "I  am  afraid  I  shall  never  be  able  to  re- 
member your  name — it's  so  long.  I  shall  call  you  John." 

"All  light,"  returned  the  Chinaman,  with  a  suspicion  of  a 
smile.  "Your  namee  too  longee,  too.  I  callee  you  Bill." 

Our  abridgment  of  Indian  and  South  American  names 
was  hardly  ever  so  misapplied  as  that,  but  sometimes  quite  as 
familiar. 

From  Puerto  Montt  south  to  Cape  Pillar,  the  western  en- 
trance to  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  there  is  a  succession  of 
islands  through  hundreds  of  miles,  and  between  these  islands 
and  the  mainland  are  numerous  channels.  All  the  country 
along  the  coast  is  wild  and  unexplored,  and  inhabited  only  by 
Indians. 

As  we  approached  Cape  Pillar  and  the  Straits,  the  strange 
story  of  the  white  man's  discovery  of  this  region  came  vividly 
to  my  mind. 


ENGINE-ROOM    OF    THE    STEAMSHIP    ORONSA. 


26o  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

After  South  America  was  discovered  by  Columbus,  it  was 
believed  for  twenty-five  years  that  there  was  no  passage  around 
the  southern  end  of  the  continent,  so  all  communication  with 
the  west  coast  of  South  America  was  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama.  In  1519  Fernando  de  Magellan,  a  Portuguese,  prom- 
ised his  King  he  would  try  to  find  a  southern  passage  around 
the  new  world. 

He  sailed  with  a  fleet  of  tiny  ships,  the  largest  of  which 
was  130  tons,  the  smallest  60  tons,  and  after  the  usual  mutiny, 
shipwreck,  and  other  hardships  that  were  the  lot  of  explorers, 
reached  a  point  of  land  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Straits,  which 
he  named  Cape  Virgin,  in  honor  of  his  patron  saint.  With 
only  two  of  his  four  ships  left,  he  entered  the  Straits,  emerging 
from  them  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  November  27th. 

He  lost  his  life  in  a  fight  with  the  Indians  on  an  island,  and 
only  one  small  ship  of  his  original  fleet  ever  succeeded  in  re- 
turning to  Portugal.  The  report  of  the  finding  of  the  passage 
into  the  Pacific  Ocean  was  discredited,  and  it  was  not  until 
seven  years  afterward  that  any  other  vessel  passed  through 
the  Straits  that  have  ever  since  borne  the  name  of  Magellan. 

Spain,  being  in  control  of  the  coast,  fortified  the  eastern 
end  of  the  Straits,  thereby  intending  to  keep  out  all  pirates  and 
"foreigners."  Had  she  succeeded  in  doing  this  the  Panama 
Canal  would  have  been  digged,  probably,  two  hundred  years 
ago. 

It  was  an  age  of  monumental  thievery,  and  that  prince  of 
pirates  and  master  of  navigation,  Francis  Drake,  was  given  a 
commission  by  England  to  "purloin"  from  Spain  the  gold  and 
silver  they  had  wrested  from  the  Indians  after  they  had  mur- 
dered them,  and  in  1578  Drake  ran  the  blockade  and  got 
through  the  Straits  from  the  east.  When  he  reached  the 
Pacific  Ocean  his  ships  were  blown  south  and  southeast,  and 
finally  when  they  could  sail  north  they  found  themselves  again 
at  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  Straits,  and  thus  knew  that  they 
had  rounded  the  southern  end  of  South  America  in  an  open 
sea. 

This  was  an  epoch-making  discovery,  as  it  opened  up  the 
western  coast  of  South  and  North  America  to  the  world.  For 
this  and  the  great  amount  of  gold  he  forcibly  took  from  other 


THE  STRAITS  AND  FALKLAND  ISLANDS     261 


TAKEN  FROM  DECK  OF  STEAMER  IN   STRAITS 
OF  MAGELLAN.       ISLAND  OF  SOUTHERN 
CROSS  IN  DISTANCE. 

ships,  Drake  was  "knighted."  Of  course,  his  discovery  was  a 
pure  accident.  However,  the  trip  around  Cape  Horn  is  so 
long  and  dangerous  that  few  boats  ever  attempt  it.  Unfortu- 
nately we  passed  through  most  of  the  Straits  at  night  and  could 
take  but  few  photographs.  I  walked  the  deck  until  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  looking  at  the  snow-clad  cliffs  and  mountains  by 
moonlight,  and  observed  that  at  many  places  the  "narrows" 
are  only  a  hundred  yards  or  so  wide. 

In  this  wild  region  the  glaciers  come  down  to  the  water's 
edge,  and  frequently  ships  go  right  up  to  them  and  cut  ice 
sufficient  to  fill  their  cold  storage  chests.  Here  and  there  we 
could  see  fires  on  some  of  the  receding  shore  points,  and  were 
reminded  that  it  was  from  these  fires,  which  are  kept  up  all 
the  time  by  the  Indians,  that  the  great  island  to  the  south  of 
the  Straits  took  its  name — Tierra  del  Fuego  (land  of  fire). 

This  great  island,  with  the  small  islands  and  the  country 
north  of  the  Straits,  forms  the  great  sheep  ranges  of  South 
America.  Formerly  this  country,  with  the  southern  end  of 
Argentina,  was  known  as  Patagonia,  and  will  be  found  so 
marked  on  all  school  maps  published  twenty  or  more  years  ago. 


262  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

The  people  put"  up  no  hay  or  shelter  for  their  millions  of 
sheep,  allowing  them  to  run  out  all  winter,  although  the  coun- 
try is  as  far  south  as  the  southern  end  of  Hudson  Bay,  in 
Canada,  is  north.  Immense  fortunes  have  bee;i  made  in  sheep 
ranching  in  this  part  of  the  world,  as  an  instance  of  which  I 
met  a  Chilean  in  Punta  Arenas  who  owns  a  ranch  which  is  as 
large  as  the  whole  State  of  Connecticut,  and  he  is  worth  $10,- 
000,000  gold.  Most  of  the  sheep  ranches  are  owned  by  Scotch- 
men and  Englishmen,  who  came  from  Australia  when  the 
grazing  lands  of  that  country  became  overcrowded. 

Possibly  the  lowest  race 
of  Indians  in  the  world  live 
on  the  barren  west  coast  of 
the  island  of  Tierra  del 
Fuego.  They  are  called  the 
Yaghans.  They  go  practi- 
cally nude,  and  having  no 
homes,  push  along  the  shore 
in  "dugouts,"  carrying  their 
families  with  them,  and  al- 
ways keep  a  fire  burning  in 
the  boats. 

In  the  family's  daily  life 
the  woman  paddles  the  boat, 
while  the  man,  crouched 
down  in  the  stern,  keeps  a 
constant  lookout  for  some; 
thing  to  eat.  They  live  on 
mussels,  crabs,  fish,  or  any- 
thing, dead  or  alive,  that 
they  can  find.  They  go 
ashore  at  night,  pull  some 
seaweed  or  grass  or  rocks 
together'  for  shelter,  and 
keep  their  fire  going.  They 
have  no  matches,  and  this 
fire  must  never  go  out.  In 
case  of  a  storm  on  the  water, 
the  men  throw  the  women 

A   YAGHAN    INDIAN,    LOWER 
CHILE. 


THE  STRAITS  AND  FALKLAND  ISLANDS     263 


and  children 
overboard  and 
save  themselves. 
They  have  no 
tribal  relations 
or  chiefs,  and 
they  kill  the  old 
women  and  de- 
formed  chil- 
dren. It  is  esti- 
mated that  there 
are  only  about 
five  hundred  of 
them  left.  There 
are  other  Indian 
tribes  inhabiting 
both  the  north 
and  west  por- 
tions Of  t  h  i  S  A  YAGHAN  INDIAN  GRASS  HUT,  ON  THE  STRAITS 

cold  and  forbid- 
ding projecture  of  the  South  American  continent. 

There  is  really  only  one  wild  fqod  beast  in  all  this  part  of 
the  earth — the  guanaco,  an  ungainly,  awkward-looking,  horn- 
less deer,  or  antelope.  It  has  a  long  neck,  like  a  camel,  and 
hindquarters  like  a  mule.  It  often  feeds  with  the  sheep,  mi- 
grating with  the  seasons. 

Punta  Arenas  is  the  last  port  we  touched  in  Chile,  and  is 
the  farthest  south  of  any  city  in  the  world.  It  has  a  popula- 
tion of  13,000,  although  before  the  gold  boom  collapsed  it  must 
have  had  15,000.  There  were  many  empty  houses  when  we 
were  there. 

Punta  Arenas  is  the  port  from  which  all  the  wool  from  this 
section  is  shipped,  and  it  is  very  considerable,  for  over  2,500,000 
sheep  find  food  in  southern  Chile  and  her  island  of  Tierra  del 
Fuego,  while  there  are  1,000,000  sheep  in  the  southern  end  of 
Argentina,  which  also  ships  from  this  port. 

These  sheep  grow  splendid  fleeces  of  wool,  averaging  about 
eight  pounds  to  the  fleece,  and  it  is  worth  20  cents  a  pound. 


264 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


PUNTA   ARENAS,    ON    THE    STRAITS   OF    MAGELLAN,    CHILE. 
FARTHEST   SOUTH   OF   ANY   TOWN    IN    THE   WORLD. 


THE 


Hence  the  wool  crop  of  this  port  brings  $5,600,000  a  year,  and 
adding  to  this  the  sum  received  from  frozen  mutton,  tallow  and 
hides,  this  one  Antarctic  port  has  an  income  from  sheep  alone 
of  $10,000,000  a  year — and  it  is  a  very  sure  crop.  As  we  sailed 
away  from  this  sheepland  city  we  took  our  final  look  at  Chile, 
and  said  good-by,  perhaps  forever. 

After  a  rough  voyage  and  numerous  interesting  sights,  we 


BMBBI 


A   STREET   IN    PUNTA   ARENAS,    CHILE. 


THE  STRAITS  AND  FALKLAND  ISLANDS     265 


came  to  the  Falkland  Islands,  which  are  English  possessions, 
and  sailed  into  the  beautiful  harbor  of  Port  Stanley. 

The  story  of  the  Falkland  Islands  reads  like  a  romance. 
Just  about  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  Straits  of  Magellan 
a  British  exploration  expedition  located  these  islands,  and  the 
members  of  this  expedition  were  no  doubt  the  first  white  men 
to  "see"  them.  No  settlement  was  made  at  this  time,  but  as 
was  the  custom  in  those  days  of  exploration  and  discovery,  a 
party  went  ashore,  hoisted  a  flag,  fired  a  salute,  and  claimed 
the  land  for  their  King  (if  they  could  hold  it)  and  then  sailed 
away.  The  English  always  took  the  precaution  to  make  a 
record  of  their  findings  in  latitude  and  longitude,  and  years 
afterward  could  prove  it. 

Next  came  the  French — after  the  English  had  run  them  out 
of  Canada — and  they  made  a  settlement,  claiming  the  islands 
for  the  King  of  France.  But  England  made  them  give  up 
possession.  Then  came  the  Spanish,  in  the  name  of  the  United 


A  GUANACO,  SUPPOSED  TO  BE  THE  LLAMA  S 

ANCESTOR.       A  WILD,  WARY  ANIMAL 

RANGING  FROM  THE  EQUATOR 


266 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Provinces  of  South  America.  They  took  the  islands  from 
England  and  held  them  until  the  Spanish  murdered  some 
sealers  and  whalers  from  the  United  States.  The  United 
States  forces  expelled  the  Spanish  from  the  islands,  then 
returned  to  Buenos  Aires.  The  islands  being  unoccupied,  Eng- 
land put  in  a  claim  of  original  discovery,  and  as  Uncle -Sam 


GOING  ASHORE  ON   LIGHTERS  AT   PORT   STANLEY,    FALKLAND 

ISLANDS. 


THE  STRAITS  AND  FALKLAND  ISLANDS     267 


A  CHURCH   IN  PORT  STANLEY,  FALKLAND  ISLANDS. 

did  not  contest  the  matter  the  islands  have  been  under  the 
domination  of  England  ever  since. 

The  Falkland  group  consists  of  twenty-two  islands,  on 
which  sufficient  grass  grows,  on  2,000,000  acres,  to  support 
724,000,  sheep,  which  are  owned  by  thirty-nine  different  com- 
panies or  individuals.  No  more  sheep  could  find  pasturage. 
The  wool  product  of  the  islands  sells  for  $1,500,000  a  year. 


THE  GOVERNOR  S  RESIDENCE,  FALKLAND  ISLANDS. 


268 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE   JAIL,    PORT    STANLEY,    FALKLAND    ISLANDS. 

The  increase  of  flocks  is  25  per  cent  each  year  and  the  deaths 
10  per  cent,  hence  15  per  cent  must  be  killed  and  shipped  or 
consumed  at  home.  Mutton  is  4  cents  a  pound,  hence  a  con- 
siderable sum  is  realized  from  this  source.  They  have  no 
freezing  plants,  but  a  cannery  is  being  established. 

The  population  is  2,336,  the  death  rate  eight  to  the  thou- 
sand per  year,  and  the  birth  rate  twenty-three  to  the  thousand. 
The  population  is  mostly  Scotch  and  English. 


TEN  THOUSAND  SHEEP  IN  ONE  FLOCK,   FALKLAND  ISLANDS. 


THE  STRAITS  AND  FALKLAND  ISLANDS     269 

The  best  whaling  waters  in  this  part  of  the  world  lie  off 
these  islands  and  south  to  the  frozen  Antarctic  country.  For- 
merly the  United  States  whalers  (when  we  had  ships  on  the 
ocean)  came  here  every  year;  now  the  only  whalers  are  from 
Norway.  The  only  harbors  are  at  these  islands,  and  to  use 
them  the  whalers  must  take  out  a  British  license,  which  is  a 
source  of  considerable  revenue  to  the  crown. 

Some  seals  are  taken  in  this  vicinity,  but  principally  for  the 
oil,  as  the  fur  is  not  very  good.  A  company  had  just  been 
licensed  when  we  were  there  to  kill  and  press  the  oil  from  that 
most  wonderful  bird,  the  penguin,  which  is  very  plentiful  on 
the  rocky  islands.  This  bird  cannot  fly;  it  has  a  head  like  a 
bird,  feathers  almost  like  fur,  its  wings  have  scales  on  them, 
its  legs  are  so  short  the  feet  seem  to  be  attached  to  the  body,  it 
possesses  a  tail  like  a  seal,  and  is  very  rich  in  fat.  Why  it 
should  be  called  a  waterfowl  I  am  at  loss  to  say. 


SHEEP  ON  BOARD  SHIP,  FALKLAND  ISLANDS. 


270 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


It  was  a  very  cloudy,  wet  day  when  I  visited  their  rookery 
and  it  was  difficult  to  get  good  photographs.  They  peck  at 
one  when  he  gets  too  near  them,  and  can  put  up  quite  a  fight — 
in  their  clumsy  way. 

The  Falkland  Islands  lie  five  hundred  and  fifty  miles  east  of 


PENGUINS   IN    THEIR   ROOKERIES, 
FALKLAND    ISLANDS. 


Punta  Arenas,  and  we  were  that  much  out  of  our  course.  Few 
people  or  steamers  go  there,  but  I  felt  that  some  readers  might 
care  to  know  what  these  islands  were  like,  and  what  the  indus- 
tries were  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  obscure  quarter  of  the 
globe. 


URUGUAY 

Area,  72,210  square  miles,  or  a  little  less  than  the  area  of 
Indiana  and  Kentucky  combined — Population  about  1,300,- 
ooo — Chief  resources,  wheat,  corn,  oats,  flax,  fruits,  vege- 
tables and  meat  products — Total  exports  and  imports  about 
$100,000,000  annually — Exports  to  United  States  (ion), 
$1,613,736,  imports  from  United  States  $5,317,711 — Miles 
of  raihvay  1,500 — Army,  peace  footing  8,000,  ivar  footing 
36,000 — Navy,  war  vessels  of  all  classes  12,  officers  and 
men  600 — Capital,  Montevideo,  population  300,000. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

SOUTH  AMERICA'S  BATTLE-GROUND. 

AFTER  leaving  the  Falkland  Islands  my  first  port  was 
Montevideo,  Uruguay,  1,000  miles  to  the  north.  Well  do 
I  remember  the  fine  early  fall  (April,  in  South  America)  morn- 
ing in  which  we  sighted  this  hustling  city  of  300,000  population, 
built  on  the  sloping  ground  of  a  point  of  land  that  forms  a  bay 
by  extending  out  into  the  Rio  de  la  Plata. 

The  river  at  this  point  is  one  hundred  miles  wide,  but  the 
water  is  of  an  average  depth  of  only  twenty-five  feet,  which 
does  not  permit  the  largest  ocean-going  vessels  making  this 
port  to  come  up  to  the  docks.  The  dock  company,  however,  is 
spending  $12,000,000  improving  the  harbor. 

We  anchored  about  one  mile  from  the  wharf,  after  passing 
the  shelter  inside  the  breakwater  sea  wall,  and  were  soon  taken 
ashore  in  lighters.  Everything  reminded  me  of  an  Italian  port 
—the  air,  sky,  streets,  buildings,  smells  and  people — all  were  as 
if  from  Italy. 

It  was  here  that  Giuseppe  Garibaldi  made  his  first  appear- 
ance in  practical,  cut-throat  politics.  He  later  succeeded  in 
Italy,  and  is  famed  as  a  hero ;  had  he  failed  he  would  have  gone 
down  in  history  as  a  bloody  anarchist !  Garibaldi  came  to 
Uruguay,  hired  to  kill  the  man  who  was  then  President  of 
Argentina — but  he  never  got  the  chance. 

Montevideo  has  a  larger  percentage  of  Italians  in  her  popu- 

271 


URUGUAY 


273 


lation  than  any  other  city  in  South  America.  The  climate  here 
is  about  the  same  as  in  northern  Italy,  and  the  general  condi- 
tions attract  the  better  class  of  emigrants  from  that  over- 
crowded and  poorly-fed  country. 

The  Italians  feel  quite  at  home  here  and  do  better  than  in 
North  America,  South  America  being  a  more  natural  country 
for  emigrants  from  Latin  countries  than  the  United  States. 
Government,  church,  social  conditions,  products  and  climate 
suit  them  better.  Here  there  is  plenty  to  eat,  work  for  every- 
body, and  considerable  social  license. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  of  my  arrival  in  Montevideo  I 
sailed  for  Buenos  Aires,  and  spent  two  months  in  Argentina 
and  Paraguay  before  returning  to  make  an  extended  visit  in 
Uruguay.  There  is  one  point  on  which  I  wish  to  caution  my 
readers,  and  that  is 
not  to  get  Para- 
guay and  Uruguay 
mixed,  as  they  are 
opposites  in  nearly 
everything  except 
the  terminations  of 
their  names. 

Paraguay  is  in- 
land 1,000  miles; 
Uruguay  is  on  the 
coast.  Paraguay  is 
run  by  the  soldiers, 
who  elect  the  Pres- 
ident; Uruguay  is 
Sociali  stic  to  a 
great  extent,  and 
the  army  and 
church  have  noth- 
ing to  say  in  poli- 
t  i  c  s.  Paraguay's 
dollar  is  worth  8 
cents  in  gold ;  Uru- 
guay's,  $1.03  in 
gold  —  the  only 


THE  MUNICIPAL  PALACE,   MONTEVIDEO. 
URUGUAY. 


18 


274 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


country  in  the  world  where  the  United  States  dollar  is  at  a 
discount  of  3  per  cent.  Paraguay  has  Had  but  one  great  war 
in  four  hundred  years;  the  people  of  Uruguay  have  fought 
everybody,  including  one  another,  all  the  time  for  nearly  four 
hundred  years. 

Uruguay,  the  smallest  of  South  American  republics,  for 
four  centuries  has  been  the  public  fighting-ground  of  Spain, 
Portugal,  England,  Argentina,  Brazil  and  Paraguay.  When- 
ever any  of  the  above-mentioned  countries  wanted  to  pull  off  a 
fight  in  South  America  they  usually  pitched  the  ring  in  Uruguay 
— it  was  so  convenient. 

The  armies  lived  off  Uruguay  and  saved  the  crops  and  prop- 
erty at  home.  They  never  paid  for  anything  they  took  or 
destroyed,  and  the  natives  of  Uruguay  had  to  fight  much  of  the 
time  to  prevent  all  their  cattle  and  provisions  being  stolen  by 
the  soldiers  of  some  foreign  country,  who  were  chasing  the 
soldiers  of  some  other  foreign  country  across  this  rich  and 
fertile  land.  It  didn't  matter  which  side  won  or  lost,  the  people 
of  Uruguay  always  got  the  worst  of  it. 


A  BOULEVARD  OF   MONTEVIDEO. 


URUGUAY 


275 


RAILWAY    STATION,    MONTEVIDEO,    URUGUAY. 

For  three  hundred  years,  from  1510  to  1810,  Spain  and 
Portugal  were  either  fighting  or  "exchanging  diplomatic  notes" 
with  each  other  about  the  location  of  the  boundary  line  between 
their  possessions  in  South  America. 

The  territory  now  forming  the  Republic  of  Uruguay  is  so 
situated  that  it  controls  the  trade  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  and  the 
interior  of  southern  central  South  America.  Buenos  Aires 
would  not  now  be  the  commercial  capital,  except  for  the  old 
Indian  wars. 

Uruguay  has  no  desert  land  and  the  rainfall  is  ample.  The 
vegetation  and  climate  are  about  the  same  as  Virginia,  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee  in  the  United  States.  The  Atlantic  Ocean  to 
the  south  and  east  changes  very  little  in  temperature  in  a  year, 
and  as  the  prevailing  winds  blow  from  the  ocean  in  the  summer, 
and  from  the  north  and  west — or  from  the  tropics — in  winter, 
Uruguay  is  equally  a  summer  and  winter  resort. 

The  general  elevation  of  the  country  is  from  2,000  to  3,000 
feet  above  sea  level,  and  the  country  is  drained  by  many  small 


276  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

rivers.  Plenty  of  shade  trees  grow  along  the  streams,  furnish- 
ing sufficient  wood  for  domestic  purposes.  The  general  climate 
makes  artificial  heat  unnecessary  for  bodily  comfort  in  the 
winter,  so  in  the  homes  fires  are  used  only  for  cooking ;  wood 
is  the  principal  fuel,  coal  being  very  expensive. 

The  climate,  soil  and  easy  transportation  by  water  made 
Uruguay  a  prize  over  which  Brazil  and  Argentina  have  fre- 
quently fought,  since  the  rule  of  Spain  and  Portugal  has  gone 
from  the  Southland  forever. 

The  first  attempted  settlement  on  the  east  coast  of  South 
America  was  made  by  Spain  in  1515,  on  an  island  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Uruguay  and  Parana  Rivers.  This  island,  which 
now  belongs  to  Uruguay,  was  called  Martin  Garcia,  having 
been  named  by  Juan  Diaz  de  Solis,  who  was  sent  out  by  Spain 
to  investigate  the  worth  of  this  new  country,  and  determine 
what  part  of  it  she  would  let  Portugal  keep. 

With  ten  men  Solis  went  ashore,  and  in  a  short  time  one  of 
the  men  returned  carrying  what  arrows  he  couldn't  pull  out  of 
his  body  as  he  ran;  the  remainder  of  the  party  did  not  come 
back,  and  those  who  had  been  left  on  the  ship  decided  not  to  go 
out  and  fight  the  Indians  in  looking  for  the  bodies  of  their  com- 
rades ;  instead,  they  hove  anchor  and  returned  to  Spain. 

Spain  decided  she  did  not  want  this  particular  section  of 
South  America,  for  none  of  the  expeditions  sent  out  could  hold 
it  against  the  warlike  Indians  who  called  it  their  home.  For 
162  years  these  Indians,  known  as  the  Charruas,  held  their  own 
and  beat  back  every  advance  made  by  white  men  into  their  ter- 
ritory. 

The  Charruas  were  better  organized  than  any  other  race  of 
Indians,  and  therefore  more  effective  in  warfare.  They  were 
experts  with  bow  and  arrow,  slungshot,  spear  and  club ;  were 
commanded  by  chiefs,  and  in  battle  obeyed  orders  implicitly, 
forming  in  columns  and  attacking  in  mass  on  command.  They 
were  nearly  as  far  advanced  in  the  art  of  war  as  the  white  man, 
and  while  at  first  they  had  neither  horses  nor  guns,  they  soon 
took  both  from  the  Spaniards  and  learned  to  use  them.  They 
had  the  advantage  of  great  courage,  splendid  physical  develop- 
ment, and  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  country,  combined  with 
plenty  of  food  and  reinforcements  when  needed. 


L 


278  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

The  Charruas  lived  in  huts  and  were  highly  civilized — from 
the  Indian  point  of  view.  In  order  to  preserve  the  high  physical 
standing  of  their  race  they  killed  all  sickly  or  crippled  children. 
They  maintained  their  position  until  1777,  when  the  country  had 
become  settled  by  the  Portuguese  to  the  north  and  east,  and  by 
the  Spanish  to  the  west;  the  Jesuit  priests  had  also  sown  dis- 
cord for  so  long  that  it  was  impossible  that  there  could  be  peace 
for  the  Charruas  in  this  position,  so  they  were  driven  back,  but 
never  conquered. 

At  this  time  the  whole  country  was  overrun  with  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  wild  horses  and  cattle — the  multiplied  product 
that  had  come  from  the  stock  that  for  many  years  had  escaped 
when  settlers  had  been  massacred,  and  which  had  been  allowed 
to  roam  at  will  by  the  Indians.  Hunting  for  "big  game"  was 
good  in  Uruguay — with  the  Indians  practically  all  gone. 

The  half-breed  Spaniard  from  Argentina  and  the  half-breed 
Portuguese  from  Brazil  crowded  over  the  borderland  of  this 
"open"  territory  after  their  own  or  any  other  person's  cattle 
they  could  "run  a  rope  on,"  and  by  and  by  the  country  was 
settled  by  as  mongrel  a  Spanish-Portuguese-Indian  breed  as 
ever  cut  a  throat  or  set  fire  to  a  shack.  Life  was  cheap  and 
fights  were  plenty. 

This  is  the  basic  rural  stock  from  which  the  present  old 
families  of  Uruguay  sprang.  Do  not  expect  too  much  of  them 


THE  GRAND   HOTEL/ MONTEVIDEO. 


URUGUAY  279 

—you  will  not  realize  your  expectation  if  you  do.  From  their 
viewpoint  they  believe  they  have  made  wonderful  improvement, 
considering  how  they  started,  and  I  admit  that  they  are  right. 

Of  course  Spain  claimed  all  of  Uruguay  and  a  lot  of  Brazil, 
but  in  1680  Portugal  sent  some  ships  and  soldiers  from  Rio  de 
Janeiro  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and  established  a 
colony  opposite  Buenos  Aires  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
calling  the  town  Colonia. 

The  Spanish  colony  in  Argentina,  not  knowing  but  that  this 
was  perfectly  satisfactory  to  their  King,  sent  a  detachment  of 
soldiers  over  and  took  Colonia.  When  information  of  the  cap- 
ture reached  Madrid  notice  was  sent  to  withdraw  the  troops 
and  give  the  settlement  back  to  the  Portuguese.  For  the  ensu- 
ing one  hundred  years,  except  for  short  periods,  Uruguay  was 
a  part  of  Brazil  under  the  domination  of  Portugal. 

Colonia  was  the  first  white  settlement  of  any  importance  in 
Uruguay ;  today  it  is  principally  a  pleasure  resort  for  citizens  of 
Buenos  Aires.  Argentina  forbids  bull-fighting,  while  Uruguay 
permits  it,  and  Colonia  has  a  bull  ring  that  is  principally  patron- 
ized by  ''sports"  from  Buenos  Aires — just  across  a  river 
eighty  miles  wide. 

One  hundred  miles  east  of  Colonia  existed  the  best  natural 
harbor  in  the  region,  and  in  1723  the  Portuguese  started  a  town 


VIEW   OF   TITE    PLAZA,    MONTEVIDEO. 


28o  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

and  fort  there.  The  Spaniards  of  Argentina  objected,  and  the 
Governor  of  Buenos  Aires  captured  the  town  and  fort,  but 
when  the  home  Government  heard  about  it  he  had  to  give  it 
back.  Spain  and  Portugal  were  still  on  peaceable  terms,  but 
they  had  a  hard  time  controlling  the  actions  of  their  subjects  in 
South  America. 

By  1777  the  Spaniards  had  taken  nearly  all  of  Portugal's 
territory  on  the  east  coast  up  to  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil, 
and,  to  stop  further  aggressions,  Portugal's  diplomats  agreed 
to  make  the  permanent  boundary  between  their  possessions  and 
those  of  Spain  where  the  southern  line  of  Brazil  is  now.  This 
forever  fixed  the  nationality  of  Uruguay  as  Spanish,  and  so  it 
is  to  the  present  date. 

Now  we  come  to  the  point  where  Uruguay,  which  was 
always  attached  to  Argentina  for  governmental  purposes,  se- 
cured, not  only  her  freedom  from  Spain  in  the  great  South 
American  emancipation  from  the  mother  country,  but  also 
secured  her  freedom  from  Argentina. 

Under  the  treaty  of  1777  Uruguay  began  to  exist  as  a  sepa- 
rate colony  of  Spain,  just  the  same  as  other  South  American 
colonies.  In  1810  Montevideo  had  a  population  of  7,500,  mostly 
Spanish,  which  by  1910  had  increased  to  300,000  of  mixed  races. 
In  1807  it  was  Spain's  chief  fortified  city  on  the  east  coast, 
and  was  captured  by  the  British  in  a  combined  land  and  sea 
fight.  Flushed  with  success  the  victorious  army  then  tried  to 
take  Buenos  Aires. 

Here  England  was  completely  whipped  for  the  first  and  las.t 
time  by  the  Argentinians ;  her  entire  army  and  navy  in  this  part 
of  the  world  were  captured.  On  condition  that  the  British 
forces  be  withdrawn  from  Argentina  and  Uruguay,  they  were 
allowed  to  depart — and  they  never  came  back. 

Had  England  been  successful  in  this  engagement  the  map 
of  the  world  would  have  been  changed.  The  money,  enterprise 
and  emigration  that  has  gone  from  Great  Britain  to  Africa, 
Australia  and  elsewhere  would  have  gone  to  South  America, 
which  is  a  thousand  per  cent  better  country  than  Africa — in 
climate,  soil  and  products.  This  surrender  of  an  English 
officer  left  South  America  to  the  Latin  races  instead  of  turning 
it  over  to  English-speaking  people.  The  United  States  and 


URUGUAY 


281 


APPROACH     TO    EXPOSITION     BUILDING,     MONTEVIDEO,     URUGUAY. 

Argentina  are  the  only  two  countries  of  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere that  have  whipped  Great  Britain. 

Spain  really  had  nothing  to  do  with  driving  the  English  out 
of  South  America;  it  was  the  natives  of  Argentina  and  Uru- 
guay, independent  of  Spanish  help,  who  saved  the  day.  Then 
they  said  to  themselves :  If  Spain  cannot  protect  us  from  foreign 
invasion,  what  use  is  the  mother  country  ?  Having  decided  that 
it  was  "no  good"  they  struck  for  independence.  Argentina  set 
up  business  for  herself  on  May  25,  1810,  and  on  May  18,  1811, 
Uruguay  followed  her  example. 

The  George  Washington  of  Uruguay  is  Jose  Artigas,  who 
was  a  captain  of  guerrilla  cavalry.  He  organized  the  gauchos 
and  drove  the  Spanish  Government  out  of  Montevideo — it 
never  had  any  hold  in  the  country  districts.  Artigas  never 
tried  to  be  President,  but  for  awhile  he  directed  the  fight  that 
prevented  Argentina  and  Brazil  from  capturing  his  little  re- 
public. 

Finally  he  was  driven  into  exile  by  the  combined  efforts  of 


282 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


the  two  great  republics,  and  he  died  in  Paraguay  in  1850.  Later 
his  remains  were  exhumed  and  taken  to  Montevideo,  where 
they  rest  in  the  national  pantheon.  On  the  sarcophagus  is  in- 
scribed this  line  :  "Artigas,  Founder  of  the  Uruguayan  Nation.'' 

In  1820  Uruguay  was  occupied  and  claimed  by  Brazil,  in 
1825  by  Argentina,  and  in  1830  by  herself,  in  which  year  she 
elected  her  first  President.  By  1840  Uruguay  was  quite  pros- 
perous, for  during  that  year  nine  hundred  ocean-going  ships 
entered  Montevideo  harbor;  many  of  them  flew  the  United 
States  flag,  now  never  seen  on  the  ocean  except  on  a  warship 
or  occasional  private  yacht ! 

Rosas,  the  Argentinian  Dictator,  took  a  hand  in  the  politics 
of  Uruguay  and  kept  the  country  in  a  state  of  turmoil  for  years  ; 
but  for  trouble  at  home  in  Argentina,  Rosas  possibly  would  have 
succeeded  in  annexing  Uruguay  to  Argentina.  The  end  came 
in  1851,  when  he  was  defeated  by  the  combined  armies  of 
Brazil,  Uruguay  and  the  revolutionists  of  Argentina.  The  Dic- 
tator was  driven  from  power  and  Uruguay  was  left  the  "buffer 
State"  between  Brazil  and  Argentina,  which  it  continues  to  be. 


AN   EXPOSITION    BUILDING,    MONTEVIDEO,    URUGUAY. 


URUGUAY  283 

In  1860  the  cattle  in  Uruguay  numbered  over  5,000,000; 
sheep,  2,000,000;  horses,  1,000,000,  while  the  population  had 
doubled  in  ten  years.  Things  were  too  prosperous,  so  the  two 
political  parties — the  blancos  (whites)  and  the  colorados  (every 
person  not  identified  with  the  blancos)  got  busy  and  began  to 
fight  for  the  various  political  offices. 

There  never  was  and  never  has  been  any  particular  differ- 
ence in  principle  between  the  parties.  However,  most  of  the 
blancos  live  in  the  cities,  while  the  colorados  live  in  the  country. 
From  our  viewpoint  both  are  corrupt  and  dishonest ;  but  our 
views  on  honesty  and  morals  in  general  are  different  from  a 
South  American's. 

Since  1860  the  real  business  men  of  the  republic  have  largely 
withdrawn  from  political  strife  and  discord  and  have  per- 
mitted the  politicians  to  struggle  over  the  offices.  The  result 
has  been  that  business  has  gone  steadily  ahead,  despite  the  fact 
that  from  1860  to  1902  the  country  has  had  twenty-four  Presi- 
dents, of  whom  five  or  six  were  assassinated.  The  murderer 
of  one  President  got  two  years — most  of  the  other  assassins 
got  good  political  positions. 

However,  conditions  are  much  better  in  Uruguay  now ;  the 
people  are  more  prosperous,  and  with  prosperity  comes  a  con- 
tentment that  puts  an  end  to  political  strife. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


PRESENT-DAY  URUGUAY. 

4  4  "XT'  ES,  I  elected  Dr.  Claudio  Williman  to  act  as  President 
JL     in  my  place  for  the  past  four  years,  as  our  constitu- 
tion forbids  the  election  of  a  President  to  succeed  himself. 

"I  spent  the  four  years  in  Europe,  and  have  just  returned 
and  again  elected  myself  President  of  Uruguay.  When  I  have 
served  out  this  term  I  will  elect  some  one  for  the  next  and  go 
to  your  country,  the  United  States  of  North  America,  for 
a  long  visit.  I  will  be  President  of  Uruguay  every  other  term 
as  long  as  I  live !" 

Thus  President  Batlle,  who  is  practically  Dictator  of  Uru- 
guay, spoke  to  me  when  I  congratulated  him  on  his  re-election 
as  President.  He  said  he  was  the  best  man  for  the  office,  and 
I  am  not  sure  but  that  he  is  right.  I  was  reminded  of  the 
Irishman  at  the  wedding  who  inquired  of  a  man  taking  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  festivities:  "An'  who- are  you?"  The  reply 
was:  "I  am  the  best  man!"  Pat  remarked,  after  he  had  been 

ejected  from  the 
house  —  "And,  be- 
gorry,  he  was !" 

It  may  seem  an 
unusual  thing  to 
say,  but  it  is  never- 
theless a  fact,  that 
the  best  man  for 
President  of  any 
South  American 
republic  is  the  man 
who  can  hold  down 
the  job. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  PALACE,  MONTEVIDEO, 

URUGUAY. 

284 


286 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


President  Batlle,  who  is  a  big,  six-foot,  two-hundred-pound, 
determined  man,  was  exceedingly  frank  in  all  he  said  to  me. 
He  is  a  pronounced  Socialist,  and  states  plainly  that  as  rapidly 
as  he  can  secure  the  necessary  changes  in  the  constitution  he 
will  give  Uruguay  a  purely  Socialistic  government. 

While  in  Europe,  during  the  previous  four  years,  he  had  as- 
sociated with  the  most  advanced  thinkers  along  this  line,  and 
as  he  has  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  he  will  not  permit  any 
one  or  any  thing  to  stop  him  from  putting  his  plan  into  opera- 
tion. He  is  admitted  by  all  to  be  personally  honest,  but  some 
think  him  visionary.  He  is  surrounded  by  a  class  of  men  who 
pretend  to  believe  in  his  theories,  but  who  are  really  only  after 
the  offices  and  slices  of  the  big  melons  to  be  cut  when  the  Gov- 
ernment begins  buying  up  the  various  corporations  and  busi- 
ness concerns  of  the  country,  to  put  them  under  Government 

ownership. 

President  Batlle  told  me 
he  proposed  to  make  a  Gov- 
ernment monopoly  out  of 
every  industry  of  any  im- 
portance in  the  republic, 
and  that  he  would  begin 
with  the  meat-packing  in- 
dustry. I  asked  him  if  he 
thought  the  ranchers  and 
farmers  would  be  satisfied 
with  the  prices  the  Govern- 
ment would  pay  for  their 
cattle,  hogs  and  sheep,  and 
his  reply  was  that  "they 
would  have  to  be  satisfied, 
as  they  would  be  dealing 
with  themselves  and  would 
get  all  the  profit." 

"Why,  do  you  know,  Mr. 
Boyce,"  he  said,  "there  are 
over  30,000,000  head  of 
cattle,  sheep,  horses,  hogs, 
mules  and  goats  in  this  re- 


A  BUSINESS  BUILDING  IN 
MONTEVIDEO. 


288  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

public;  and  I  do  not  propose  to  allow  this,  the  chief  source 
of  income  of  my  people,  to  be  subject  to  a  monopoly  like  you 
have  in  the  United  States  in  your  Beef  Trust.  Your  Chicago 
packers  tried  to  buy  out  our  local  concerns,  but  I  told  them 
that  they  would  not  be  allowed  to  operate ;  so  they  went  on  to 
Argentina." 

"How  does  your  excellency  intend  to  handle  the  grain  and 
produce  of  the  country,  on  a  Government  monopoly  basis  ?"  I 
asked.  His  reply  was  that  he  proposed  first  to  take  over  the 
railroads,  as  they  were  necessary  in  handling  the  products  and 
supplies  of  the  country ;  and  that  the  Government  would  own 
the  storehouses  or  elevators,  and  also  the  market-houses.  Thus 
everything  would  be  handled  without  the  profit  demanded  by 
private  capital,  and  forced  from  the  public  by  combinations  and 
"gentlemen's  agreements." 

I  asked  him  who  would  establish  the  price  for  cattle,  grain 
and  produce.  He  replied:  "The  markets  of  the  world."  I 
suggested  that  the  trusts  make  the  markets  of  the  world,  and 
his  reply  was :  "Then  our  people  will  get  the  profits — not  the 
trusts." 

There  are  1,500  miles  of  English-built  and  operated  railroads 
in  Uruguay,  and  the  peace  of  the  country  is  largely  due  to  the 
facilities  the  Government  has,  by  reason  of  these  rails,  to  reach 
quickly  with  troops  any  point  where  there  might  be  a  local 
revolution.  As  the  Government  has  guaranteed  all  the  bonds 
of  the  railroads  it  would  be  but  a  short  step  from  Government 
guarantee  to  Government  ownership.  I  expect  this  change  will 
soon  be  made. 

The  population  of  Uruguay  is  about  1,300,000;  it  has  an 
area  of  72,210  square  miles,  and  a  coast  line  of  625  miles. 
Geographically  it  is  located  between  the  thirtieth  and  thirty- 
fifth  parallels  of  latitude  south  of  the  equator.  The  conditions 
are  ideal  for  a  thorough  trial  of  Socialism,  and  the  results  will 
be  watched  with  great  interest  by  the  world. 

I  inquired  of  President  Batlle  what  lines  of  business  he  had 
actually  tried  out  on  the  basis  of  Government  ownership,  and 
he  enumerated  several  local  institutions.  The  one  with  a  uni- 
versal application  to  all  countries,  however,  is  the  insurance 
business,  which  the  Government  of  Uruguay  took  over  by  buy- 


URUGUAY 


289 


VIEW   IN  A   PARK,    MONTEVIDEO,   URUGUAY. 

ing  out  the  established  agencies  of  old  line  companies,  and 
giving  employment  to  as  many  of  the  people  working  in  the 
offices  before,  as  possible.  Some  people  in  Uruguay  coniplain 
that  the  Government  has  retained  too  many  of  the  old  employes. 

President  Batlle  claimed  that  he  was  copying  the  American 
railroad  insurance  idea,  and  later  expected  to  have  everybody 
insured — the  same  as  they  are  in  Germany,  and  as  England 
plans  to  do  by  a  law  recently  passed.  Uruguay  is  handling  the 
fire  and  accident  line  of  insurance  as  well  as  the  life  and  old  age. 

President  Batlle  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
cheapest  insurance  in  the  United  States,  which  is  just  as 
good  as  any  other,  is  on  the  mutual  plan.  In  my  opinion,  if 
there  is  one  semi-business  institution  that  should  be  operated 
by  the  Governments  of  all  countries,  it  is  insurance. 

Why  the  American  people  have  stood  for  being  browbeaten 
and  skinned  by  the  insurance  companies  all  these  years  is  dif- 
ficult to  understand.  How  many  thousands  of  people  have 
paid  on  fire,  life  and  accident  policies  for  years  and  years,  only 
to  find  when  the  fire  comes,  or  life  is  nearly  ended,  that 
through  dishonesty  of  failure  their  policy  is  worthless?  It 
would  cost  less  and  be  absolutely  safe  if  insurance  were  done 
19 


290  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

by  the  State  or  National  Government.  Insurance,  like  bank- 
ing, should  be  backed  by  the  Government. 

The  money  of  Uruguay  is  issued  by  the  Bank  of  the  Repub- 
lic— owned  by  the  Government — so  every  dollar  in  circulation 
is  issued  by  the  Government.  The  paper  money  is  guaranteed 
to  be  redeemed  at  face  value  any  time  with  gold — and  it 
is ;  you  may  have  gold  or  paper,  just  as  you  wish  at  any  bank. 
The  gold  dollar  is  worth  $1.03  in  United  States  coin,  and  it 
really  makes  an  American  feel  cheap  to  find  a  dollar  in  the  wide 
world  worth  more  than  our  own. 

The  paid-up  capital  of  the  Government  bank  is  $11,000,000, 
while  the  branches  of  foreign  banks  (mostly  English)  located 
in  Montevideo  and  the  country  towns,  represent  over  $34,000,- 
ooo.  The  whole  country  is  well  supplied  with  capital. 

The  ruling  rate  of  interest  is  12  per  cent,  but  the  Govern- 
ment can  borrow  all  it  wants  at  5  per  cent.  In  view  of  this 
great  difference,  President  Batlle  said  to  me  :  "Why  should  our 
people  have  to  pay  12  per  cent  when  the  Government  can  get 
loans  at  5  per  cent,  or  over  100  per  cent  less?"  I  did  not  answer 
his  question. 

The  President  pointed  out  with  justified  pride  the  results 
of  Government  ownership  of  public  utilities,  such  as  the  tele- 
graph, telephone,  water,  sewerage  and  gas,  and  said  that  the 
Government  was  not  granting  any  more  franchises  for  electric 
light  and  street  cars. 

While  I  was  in  Montevideo  the  employes  of  the  privately- 
owned  street  car  line  struck  and  closed  down  the  entire  system. 
In  addition  they  forbade  any  one,  working  for  wages  or  salary 
for  any  concern,  going  to  work  for  three  days.  The  whole 
city  was  closed  up  tight.  I  asked  President  Batlle  why  he  per- 
mitted this  when  he  could  have  stopped  it.  He  replied :  "To 
let  the  people  see  how  strong  they,  the  people,  are ;  Socialism 
is  only  the  people  acting  for  themselves." 

The  President  was  quite  proud  of  the  fact  that  under  his 
administration  the  expenses  of  the  Government  had  never  ex- 
ceeded the  income.  This  is  the  only  exception  to  the  opposite 
procedure  in  South  America  that  I  know  of.  It  was  during  his 
former  administration  that  the  rate  of  interest  for  Government 
loans  was  reduced  from  10  per  cent  to  5  per  cent.  No  wonder 


URUGUAY 


291 


he  feels  certain  the  people  will  elect  him  President  every  chance 
they  get. 

The  exports  and  imports  are  nearly  $50,000,000  a  year  each 
way.  With  $100,000,000  to  handle,  and  that  cared  for  as  care- 
fully, if  not  more  so,  than  is  the  Government's  money  of  the 
United  States,  Uruguay  is  pretty  well  off. 

One  thing  that  is  difficult  to  understand  is  how  Socialism  has 
secured  such  a  hold  on  the  minds  of  the  uneducated  people  of 
Uruguay ;  for  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  the  matter  of  general 
education  few  countries  in  South  America  are  so  backward* 
The  low  standard  of  education  in  the  country  districts  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  people  being  so  scattered  that  it  is  difficult 
to  locate  a  school  that  would  accommodate  many  of  the  chil- 
dren. In  riding  over  the  country  my  observation  was  that  not 
one  in  five  of  the  people  I  met  could  read  or  write. 

The  Government  has  recently  established  a  university 
which  has  at  present  eighty  professors  and  over  800  students. 


THE   UNIVERSITY,    MONTEVIDEO,    URUGUAY 


URUGUAY  293 

The  best  sign  I  observed  for  the  future  of  Uruguay  is  that  the 
young  men  are  studying  agriculture,  horticulture  and  cattle 
raising,  and  not  to  become  doctors  of  law,  medicine,  and  poli- 
tics, as  is  the  case  in  Argentina  and  Chile. 

Uruguay  is  the  best  all-round  country  for  everything  in 
South  America.  Wheat,  corn,  oats,  flax,  fruits  and  vegetables 
of  all  kinds  grow  any  place,  and  in  many  localities  two  crops 
of  garden  vegetables  are  produced  each  year. 

Owing  to  the  well-drained  country  and  temperate  climate, 
cattle,  sheep  and  horses  are  particularly  free  from  disease  and 
feed  outdoors  the  year  round. 

Over  1,000,000  head  of  cattle  are  killed  in  Uruguay  annu- 
ally by  the  Liebig's  Extract  of  Meat  Company.  This  concern, 
although  originally  a  German  corporation,  is  now  controlled  by 
English  capital.  President  Batlle  told  me  he  had  about  com- 
pleted a  plan  for  taking  over  this  company's  business  in  Uru- 
guay and  operating  it  as  a  State  monopoly,  with  which  he  would 
include  the  cold  storage  plants,  potted  beef,  and  potted  tongue 
concerns. 

The  United  States  has  less  than  10  per  cent  of  the  foreign 
trade  with  Uruguay,  and  this  is  the  American  business  man's 
fault.  However,  for  some  years  back  we  have  been  sending 
better  men  to  represent  our  country  and  the  result  will  be  ap- 
parent soon. 

General  O'Brien,  as  our  representative  to  Uruguay,  was  an 
able  and  competent  minister,  but  he  soon  saw  an  opportunity 
to  make  money  in  building  a  railroad  with  American  capital, 
engineers  and  material,  and  is  pushing  his  road  to  completion. 
No  doubt  the  Government  will  take  the  road  over  when  it  is 
completed,  but  in  the  meantime  it  makes  an  outlet  for  Ameri- 
can capital,  material  and  labor. 

Minister  Morgan,  a  very  able  representative  of  Uncle  Sam, 
succeeded  General  O'Brien,  but  he  has  recently  been  appointed 
ambassador  to  Brazil,  which  is  considered  quite  a  promotion. 
While  in  Uruguay  Mr.  Morgan  was  the  most  popular  of  for- 
eign representatives,  and  in  street  parades  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
were  frequently  carried  in  his  honor,  and  three  cheers  were  al- 
ways given  when  the  parades  passed  the  United  States  legation 
building.  The  present  minister  from  the  United  States  to 


URUGUAY 


295 


Uruguay  is  Nicolay  Grevstad.  He  is  an  Illinois  man,  having 
formerly  been  editor-in-chief  of  the  Daily  Skandinaven  of 
Chicago. 

While  the  Uruguayan  Congress  elects  the  President  of  the 
republic,  I  imagine  it  would  be  rather  difficult  for  a  man  to 
secure  a  seat  in  the  Congress  if  he  were  not  an  adherent  of 
President  Batlle. 

I  asked  the  President-  if  he  intended  to  separate  the 
Church  from  the  State  and  he  replied :  "Our  constitution  recog- 
nizes the  Catholic  Church,  but  I  am  now  having  the  constitution 


THE    CATHEDRAL,     MONTEVIDEO,     URUGUAY. 

changed  so  we  can  drop  any  church,  Catholic  or  Protestant, 
from  having  any  place  in  our  Government  affairs.  I  do  not 
believe  in  churches." 

I  was  told  that  President  Batlle  refuses  to  allow  any  officer 
of  the  army  or  navy  to  go  into  any  church  with  his  uniform  on, 
or  any  employe  of  the  Government  to  attend  any  religious  func- 
tion as  a  representative  of  the  Government. 

A  great  reform  advocated  by  the  President  is  the  legal 
recognition  of  illegitimate  children  in  Uruguay.  Thirty-three 


296  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

per  cent  of  the  children  born  there  are  in  this  class,  and  at  pres- 
ent they  have  no  legal  standing. 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  awakening  the  reader's  interest  "in 
Uruguay,  so  that  he  or  she  will  watch  the  results  of  the  experi- 
ment being  tried  in  that  country,  I  will  have  accomplished  some- 
thing to  repay  me  for  the  many  miles  of  travel  and  days  of 
hard  work  required  to  gain  the  information  given  here. 

Socialism,  like  Masonry,  has  many  degrees.  Some  people 
never  get  beyond  the  Blue  Lodge,  others  take  the  thirty-two 
degrees,  and  a  very  few  reach  the  thirty-third.  Watch  Uru- 
guay! How  long  will  her  dollar  be  worth  $1.03  in  United 
States  gold  ?  That  is  an  interesting  question  and  worth  keep- 
ing in  mind. 


ARGENTINA 


Area,  1,135,840  square  miles,  or  about  five  and  a  half  times  as 
large  as  France,  or  nearly  one-third  the  size  of  the  entire 
United  States — Extends  from  the  summit  of  the  Andes  to 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  from  latitude  22  degrees  south  to 
56  degrees  south — Population  (1911),  about  7,500,000, 
including  30,000  Indians — Chief  products,  wheat,  corn, 
sheep,  zvool,  cattle,  wine,  meats — Total  exports  (1910), 
$350,584,000;  imports,  $339,459,000 — Exports  to  United 
States  (ion),  $29,090,732;  imports  from  United  States, 
$42,918,511 — Miles  of  railway,  15,000,  railroad  investment 
approximately  $450,000,000 — Army,  peace  footing,  20,000, 
war  footing,  200,000;  navy,  30  ships,  5,000  officers  and 
men — Capital,  Buenos  Aires,  population,  1,250,000. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  ARGENTINA. 

A  LITTLE  girl  from  a  country  town,  once  upon  a  time, 
came  to  Chicago  with  her  father  to  see  the  city.  In  the 
course  of  their  wanderings  up  and  down  the  streets,  lined  with 
towering  buildings,  they  came  to  the  corner  of  State  and  Madi- 
son streets,  where 
more  people  pass 
in  one  day  than  at 
any  other  street 
corner  in  the 
world.  After  stand- 
ing there  for  what 
seemed  a  long  time 
to  the  little  maid 
she  said :  "Papa, 
let's  sit  down  till 
the  crowd  goes 

by." 

After     four 
months    on    the 


UNITED  STATES  LEGATION,   BUENOS  AIRES. 
297 


298 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


West  Coast  of  South  America,  I  could  almost  believe  I  was 
back  in  Chicago  at  the  corner  of  State  and  Madison  streets 
when  I  finally  stood  in  the  busy  section  of  Buenos  Aires.  But 
one  glance  was  sufficient  to  tell  me  the  throng  was  a  crowd 
that  surged  to  and  fro  all  day — so  I  didn't  stop  to  wait  for  it 
to  go  by. 

Buenos  Aires  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  cities  in  the 
world — and  I  have  "been  about  considerable"  and  have  seen 
some  other  wonderful  cities.  In  this  chapter  I  can  do  no  more 
than  set  down  some  of  my  first  impressions  of  this  magnificent 
city.  Of  Argentina  itself  there  needs  must  be  some  rather 
extended  paragraphs,  for  Argentina  is  a  very  splendid  country, 
and  it  is  of  mighty  moment  in  the  world's  evolution,  and  of 
supreme  importance  to  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

You  perhaps  remember  when  we  were  in  Chicago  together 
at  the  World's  Fair,  how  the  hustle  and  push  of  the  people 
who  dwell  in  the  W'indy  City  impressed  us?  Well,  Buenos 
Aires  is  just  like  Chicago. 

You  remember  when  we  were  in  New  York  together  at  the 
horse  show,  and  took  in  Broadway,  Wall  street,  Fifth  avenue, 
the  big  restaurants,  hotels  and  theaters ;  also  saw  the  resi- 


A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  BUENOS 


ARGENTINA 


299 


dences,  banks  and  office  buildings  of  the  billionaires?  Well, 
Buenos  Aires  is  just  like  New  York  in  that  way. 

Again,  you  remember,  perhaps,  when  we  were  in  Berlin, 
Germany,  and  we  remarked  about  the  wonderful  growth  and 
improvement  since  the  last  time  we  were  there ;  how  clean  the 
streets  were — how  solid  and  substantial  the  buildings  looked, 
and  how  well  kept  the  parks  were  ?  Well,  Buenos  Aires  looks 
like  Berlin. 

You  remember  what  a  difference  we  noticed  between  the 
people  of  Berlin  and  Paris ;  how  in  Paris  everybody  seemed 
to  live  only  for  today,  how  gay,  well-dressed  and  light-hearted 
they  were ;  how  everybody  seemed  to  be  sitting  on  the  sidewalk, 
outside  some  restaurant,  under  an  awning,  smoking  cigarettes 
and  having  coffee  or  soft  drinks ;  what  big  hats  the  handsome 
women  wore ;  how  the  boulevards  and  avenues  were  crowded 
with  automobiles  and  carriages,  and  everybody  went  to  the 
races  ?  Well,  that's  the  way  they  do  in  Buenos  Aires. 

You  remember  when  we  went  to  Washington  to  try  to  get 
Jim  that  appointment,  how  the  Capitol  and  public  buildings  im- 
pressed us  with  the  wealth  and  solidity  of  the  Government; 
how  beautiful,  wide  Pennsylvania  avenue  made  us  wish  that 


\   RES,  LOOKING  TOWARD  THE  SOUTH. 


300 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE  CUSTOM    HOUSE,   BUENOS  AIRES. 

all  streets  were  like  it;  how  important  our  Congressman 
seemed,  how  busy  he  appeared,  and  how  he  shook  hands  with 
us  and  inquired  about  "the  folks  at  home?"  Well,  Buenos 
Aires  is  the  capital  of  a  country  as  big  as  all  of  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  one  feels  as  though  he 
were  in  Washington — only  the  city  is  as  big  as  Chicago  at  the 
time  of  the  World's  Fair,  having  1,250,000  population. 

To  revert  for  a  moment,  I  will  mention  that  the  approach  to 
this  great  city  is  very  impressive.  Leaving  Montevideo,  Uru- 
guay, having  arrived  there  from  the  Falkland  Islands,  it  took 
all  night  to  cross  the  Rio  de  la  Plata — think  of  a  river  over  one 
hundred  miles  wide!  The  big  side-wheeler  boat  was  packed, 
every  berth  being  taken.  At  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  we 
were  within  one  mile  of  the  docks  of  Buenos  Aires,  and  as  we 
drew  near,  my  Peruvian  photographer,  who  had  never  seen  a 
big  city,  forgot  his  camera  and  stood  with  mouth  wide  open, 
completely  forgetting  to  take  a  panorama  of  the  city.  However, 


ARGENTINA 


301 


it  was  a  trifle  too  early  in  the  morning  to  get  a  good  photo- 
graph. 

Through  the  request  of  the  American  legation  at  Buenos 
Aires  our  baggage,  photographic  material  and  eight  cameras 
were  admitted  by  the  customs  officials  without  our  trunks 
being  opened. 

When  my  photographer  from  the  West  Coast  saw  a  new 
thirteen-story  building,  partly  finished,  he  collapsed  and 
thought  he  was  dreaming  or  couldn't  see  straight — and  when 
we  told  him  there  was  a  forty-five-story  building  in  New  York 
and  a  thirty-story  structure  in  Chicago,  he — well,  you  can 
fancy  what  he  thought  of  our  veracity!  I  admit  that  I  was 
somewhat  surprised  myself  when  I  saw  the  towering  structures 
of  Buenos  Aires,  as  I  had  expected  nothing  of  the  sort. 


THE  PLAZA  HOTEL,  BUENOS  AIRES. 


302  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

We  had  cabled  for  rooms  at  the  Plaza  Hotel,  and  on  ar- 
rival there  I  was  again  surprised ;  the  hotel,  finished  two  years 
ago,  is  owned  by  the  Ritz-Carleton  Company  of  London,  Eng- 
land, which  owns  about  twenty  big  hotels  the  world  over,  one 
even  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Here  I  found  a  clerk  from  the  Carleton  Hotel  in  London, 
and  discovered  that  the  prices  asked  for  rooms  would  make  a 
New  York  hotel  clerk  blush — and  that  would  be  "going  some," 
one  must  admit.  Thirty  dollars  a  day  for  three  small  rooms 
and  bath,  meals  extra,  was  the  price  charged  me.  I  learned 
afterward  that  I  had  been  given  a  discount  of  twenty-five  per 
cent  in  the  bargain,  for  the  reason  that  I, was  a  "newspaper 
man."  I  noted  that  a  hat,  which  would  cost  five  dollars  in  the 
United  States,  would  cost  seventeen  dollars  in  Buenos  Aires, 
and  that  Havana  cigars  were  from  sixty  cents  to  one  dollar 
each. 

After  breakfast  the  first  morning,  finding  I  had  some 
money  left,  I  took  a  cab  at  two  dollars  an  hour — the  cheapest 
thing  in  the  city — and  looked  the  place  over  for  several  hours. 
It  was  Sunday  morning  and  the  streets  were  so  deserted  I  got 
a  good  clear  look  at  everything  on  the  outside.  About  noon, 
however,  the  people  began  to  come  out  and  they  came  in 
throngs. 

It  was  April,  but  April  in  South  America  is  equal  to  Octo- 
ber in  North  America.  Buenos  Aires  is  situated  at  latitude  35 
degrees  south,  but  owing  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  the  temperature 
does  not  change  much.  It  seldom  gets  colder  than  51  degrees 
above  zero  in  the  winter,  nor  hotter  than  80  in  the  summer. 
The  air  is  fine  (Buenos  Aires  is  Spanish  for  "good  airs"),  and 
the  sky  is  nearly  always  clear. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  inasmuch  as  Sunday  was  the  big 
weekly  holiday  and  everybody  was  on  pleasure  bent,  I  would 
have  an  opportunity  to  see  how  the  people  of  Buenos  Aires 
amused  themselves. 

One  thing  I  was  pleased  to  observe — there  was  no  drinking. 
No  liquor  is  sold  in  this  city  on  Sunday  or  any  holiday — and 
there  are  twenty  church  holidays  during  the  year.  The  nation- 
alities are  represented  as  follows  :  First,  Spanish  ;  second,  Ital- 
ian ;  third,  English ;  fourth,  German.  There  are  only  five  hun- 


ARGENTINA 


303 


dred  Americans  in  the  entire  republic.     The  amusements  are 
much  the  same  as  in  any  great  city. 

Driving  through  Palermo  Park,  we  came  to  a  handsome 
building,  and  my  cocker o  (cabby)  pointed  it  out  as  the  Palais 
de  Glace  (the  Palace  of  Ice),  and  then  I  realized  how  very  up- 
to-date  the  Buenos  Aireans  really  are.  Here,  where  it  never 
freezes  and  nature  never  forms  ice,  they  make  it  electrically. 

It  looked  odd  to  see  skates  for  sale  in  the  windows  of  the 
hardware  stores,  considering  the  climate.  The  ice  skating 
rink  covered  half  an  acre,  and  while  watching  the  people  cir- 
cling round  and  cutting  figure  eights,  all  muffled  up  in  sweaters 
and  tam-o'-shanters,  one  could  almost  believe  he  was  at  home, 
or  up  in  Canada  in  the  winter,  watching  the  healthful  winter 
sports  on  the  ice. 

The  Japanese  Gardens  are  near  the  Ice  Palace,  and  they 
resemble  a  miniature  "Coney  Island,"  "Midway,"  or  "Great 
White  Way,"  being  managed  by  a  German  who  was  at  one 
time  an  assistant  manager  of  the  "White  City"  in  Chicago. 
Here  one  can  ride  on  a  scenic  railway,  take  a  flight  in  a  station- 
ary airship,  shoot  the  chutes,  bump  the  bumps,  or  have  one's 
fortune  told,  just  as  in  the  amusement  parks  of  the  United 
States. 

I  went  into  the  big  open- 
air  hippodrome,  or  theater, 
in  the  middle  of  the  gar- 
dens, and  saw  a  very  good 
circus.  The  animals,  be- 
spangled performers  and 
sawdust  were  all  there,  but 
I  missed  the  funny  clowns 
and  small  boy  peddling 
peanuts  and  pink  lemon- 
ade ;  without  these  adjuncts 
a  circus  is  not  complete  to 
a  North  American. 

The  Zoological  Park  is  a 
very  popular  place  on  Sun- 
days. One  pays  five  cents 
to  enter  it,  and  near  the 

MINIATURE  RAILWAY   IN   ZOOLOGI- 
CAL PARK,  BUENOS  AIRES. 


304 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


entrance  is  the  starting  sta- 
tion of  a  miniature  railway 
on  which,  for  an  additional 
five  cents,  you  may  ride  all 
around  and  through  the 
park.  One  car  will  seat 
eight  persons,  and  I  discov- 
ered a  family  consisting  of 
father,  mother  and  four- 
t  e  e  n  children  occupying 
two  entire  cars.  Roosevel- 
tian  families  are  not  un- 
usual in  Argentina,  and  are 
very  "handy"  in  settling  up 
a  new  country. 

The  Zoological  Park  is  a 
Govern  m  e  n  t  institution, 
and  the  money  received 
from  entrance  fees  and 
riding  on  the  miniature 
railway  just  about  pays  the 
expenses  of  maintenance. 

I  stopped  at  a  dancing 
pavilion  hoping  to  see  the 

tango,  a  famous  dance  of  the  republic,  but  was  disappointed, 
as  they  only  dance  it  now  in  the  country  towns.  It  is  some- 
thing like  the  Apache  waltz,  so  popular  on  the  vaudeville  stage 
of  the  United  States.  The  tango  is  always  put  on  in  an  in- 
closed space,  and  the  men  are  required  to  leave  their  pistols 

and  knives  at  the 
entrance  before  they 
go  on  the  floor,  as  it 
intensely  excites  the 
dancers,  and  often 
ends  in  a  free-for- 
all  fight,  and  at  some 
of  these  parties 
A  ROW  OF  AUTOMOBILES  OUTSIDE  OF  RACE  three  or  four  have 
TRACK,  BUENOS  AIRES.  been  killed. 


FRONT  VIEW  OF  THE  JOCKEY  CLUB, 
BUENOS  AIRES. 


SCENES  AT  THE  JOCKEY  CLUB  RACES,   BUENOS  AIRES. 


20 


306 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


TYPES  OF  BUENOS  AIRES  PEOPLE  LEAVING  THE  CLUB. 


The  people  of  Buenos  Aires  and  Argentina  are  enthusiastic 
lovers  of  horse-racing.  It  is  really  the  national  sport,  which  is 
very  natural  in  a  country  that  raises  millions  of  horses  and 
cattle.  Through  Mr.  Bliss,  the  charge  d'affaires  of  the  United 
States  legation,  I  had  received  from  the  president  of  the 
Jockey  Club  a  card — not  only  to  the  social  club  in  the  city,  but 
one  entitling  me  to  the  privileges  of  a  member  on  the  race 
course. 

This  track  is  one  of  the  finest  in  any  country,  and  the  club 
house  on  the  grounds  and  the  grandstands  are  handsome  build- 
ings, being  well  constructed  of  stone,  concrete  and  tile.  There 
were  about  18,000  people  at  the  races  on  the  day  I  attended, 
some  with  happy  faces  and  a  roll  of  money  in  their  "jeans," 
others  with  a  dejected  air  and  their  hands  sunk  deep  into  their 
empty  pockets,  hunting  for  a  possible  last  nickel  to  pay  their 
trolley  fare  back  to  the  city. 

I  arrived  in  time  to  see  the  principal  race  of  the  day,  the 
purse  for  the  winner  being  $8,000.  The  race  was  a  good  one 
from  start  to  finish,  and  the  crowd  was  wildly  enthusiastic. 
The  people  were  orderly  and  not  "sporty"  looking.  The 


ARGENTINA 


307 


ladies  were  handsome  and  elegantly  gowned — much  the  same 
as  you  would  see  at  the  Paris  races.  The  betting  is  on  the 
Paris  Mutuel  plan,  there  being  no  "bookies."  Ninety  per  cent 
of  the  bets  are  paid  to  the  winners  and  ten  per  cent  to  the  Gov- 
ernment ;  the  races  are  said  to  be  "on  the  square." 

I  dropped  into  a  vaudeville  theater  one  evening,  where  the 
acts  were  in  French,  Spanish  and  Italian.  One  female  per- 
former gave  me  a  thrill,  for  she  imitated  cleverly  our  own 
Yankee  Doodle  Dandy — George  Cohan.  When  an  actor  did 
not  please,  the  audience  barked  like  dogs,  instead  of  hissing  and 


MR.    BOYCE   LEAVING  THE   JOCKEY    CLUB   RACES   IN 
BUENOS  AIRES. 

cat-calling  as  American  audiences  sometimes  do.  It  sounded 
like  a  dog  show. 

Some  of  the  fashionable  restaurants  in  Buenos  Aires  sub- 
due the  lights  at  the  end  of  each  course,  and  while  you  "keep 
your  hand  on  your  pocketbook"  you  can  watch  a  moving  pic- 
ture show  at  the  end  of  the  room.  The  precaution  of  hanging 
onto  your  pocketbook  is  purely  unnecessary,  for  when  you 
have  paid  your  check  there  is  nothing  left  in  your  purse,  and 
they  might  as  well  take  its  contents  one  way  as  another. 

In  most  Latin-American  countries  bull-fighting  and  cock- 


3o8  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

fighting  are  the  principal  sports,  but  Argentina  forbids  them. 
Since  Rugby  football  was  introduced  into  the  country  by  my 
friend,  Mr.  Edward  T.  Mulhall,  the  proprietor  of  two  daily 
newspapers  in  Buenos  Aires,  it  has  become  a  national  game,- 
being  played  all  over  the  republic. 

In  closing  this  introductory  chapter  on  Argentina,  I  would 
like  to  relate  a  bit  of  picturesque  history  that  was  told  me  by 
the  captain  of  the  ship  on  which  I  came  from  Montevideo  to 
Buenos  Aires.  It  ran  as  follows : 

Fifty  years  ago  an  American  named  Captain  Smylie  carried 
on  a  coast  trade  with  his  schooner,  the  Golden  Rod,  between 
the  Falkland  Islands  and  Montevideo,  and  many  stories  are 
told  of  this  old  pirate's  adventures  and  depredations.  He 
always  put  into  Rio  Negro,  Argentina,  for  provisions  and 
water  on  his  runs  up  and  down  the  coast,  and  he  and  the 
Governor  of  Rio  Negro  became  great  cronies.  One  night  they 
quarreled  over  a  division  of  spoils  from  a  wrecked  whaling 
vessel,  and  there  was  a  free  fight  between  the  Governor  and 
his  soldiers  on  one  side  and  Captain  Smylie  and  his  men  on 
the  other.  The  American  and  his  men  were  badly  beaten, 
being  greatly  outnumbered,  and  Smylie  was  lashed  to  a  post  in 
the  middle  of  the  Plaza  and  beaten  with  the  flat  of  the 
Governor's  sword  until  the  blood  ran.  His  men  were  all  put 
in  jail,  and  he  himself  put  aboard  his  ship  in  a  helpless  condi- 
tion. In  a  few  days  his  men  were  released  and  the  Governor 
gave  Smylie  orders  never  to  put  into  Rio  Negro  again.  Smylie 
had  an  old  cannon  on  his  forward  deck,  and  before  leaving 
port  managed  to  put  a  few  holes  through  the  Governor's  house. 
For  many  months  Captain  Smylie  heeded  the  Governor's  warn- 
ing and  did  not  go  near  his  port,  but  all  the  time  he  was 
planning  revenge.  Finally  one  morning  he  appeared  in  Rio 
Negro  with  the  Golden  Rod,  and  sent  a  message  to  the  Governor 
begging  that  he  would  let  bygones  be  bygones,  and  asking 
him  to  come  out  to  the  ship  and  accept  as  a  present  some  fine 
pictures  and  other  things  he  had  recently  taken  from  a  wrecked 
ship. 

The  Governor  accepted  the  invitation,  and  went  unaccom-, 
panied  to  the  ship.  Captain  Smylie  greeted  him  at  the  gang- 
way with  a  glad  (right)  hand  and  with  the  left  grabbed  him  by 


ARGENTINA  309 

the  throat  and  sang  out  to  his  men  to  hoist  anchor  and  get 
away.  He  turned  to  the  Governor  and  in  a  voice  quivering 
with  passion  cried:  "I've  got  you  at  last,  you  hound!  Got 
you  under  the  American  flag,  and  as  I  am  the  only  American 
officer  in  these  parts  I'll  attend  to  your  punishment  myself ! 
Get  down  into  the  galley  and  clean  the  dishes !  You'll  sail 
with  me,  my  hearty,  to  Cape  Horn  and  back,  and  you  will 
serve  as  my  mozo  (servant).  If  you  do  your  work  well  I'll 
land  you  back  in  Rio  Negro  a  better  man  in  five  or  six  months." 
The  Governor  had  no  choice  but  to  submit,  and  the  story 
goes  that  his  duties  were  made  so  arduous  and  mean  that  he 
sickened  and  died  before  he  reached  Cape  Horn. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
ARGENTINA'S  NATIONAL  AND  COMMERCIAL  CAPITAL. 

A  WELL-KNOWN  Federal  official  was  strolling  down  a 
certain  celebrated  avenue  of  the  capital  of  the  United 
States  when  he  encountered  a  very  small  boy  who  was  crying 
bitterly. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  that  child  ?"  demanded  the  official 
of  the  woman  who  had  the  small  boy  in  charge.  "Is  he  ill  ?" 

"He  ain't  exactly  ill,"  replied  the  woman,  "but,  between 
you  and  me,  sir,  no  stomach  ain't  goin'  to  stand  fourteen 
doughnuts." 

Similarly,  I  confess,  that  it  rather  strained  the  mentality  to 
attempt  the  assimilation  of  Buenos  Aires  in  the  quantities  given 


PANORAMIC   VIEW   OF   THE 


3IO 


ARGENTINA  311 

us.  Buenos  Aires  is  rich  in  its  constituent  elements  and  "rich- 
ness" is  always  cloying. 

Buenos  Aires  is  the  capital  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  and 
it  may  be  called  the  commercial  capital  of  South  America.  It 
exports  more  wheat  and  chilled  meat  than  New  York;  pub- 
lishes more  statistics  and  educational  works  than  Boston;  re- 
ceives and  distributes  more  immigrants  than  Chicago ;  has  the 
largest  and  handsomest  opera  house  in  the  world ;  has  a  death 
rate  lower  than  any  big  city  in  the  United  States ;  has  the  cli- 
mate of  California,  and  is  practically  a  sealed  book  to  any 
North  American  who  has  never  been  there. 

Big  battleships  and  ocean  greyhounds  cannot  come  up  the 
Rio  de  la  Plata  to  Buenos  Aires.  Notwithstanding  its  enor- 
mous exports,  this  city  is  a  river  port.  But  in  that  same  disad- 
vantage lies  its  greatest  advantage  and  protection,  and  its 
superiority  over  any  great  exporting  metropolis  elsewhere. 
The  Rio  de  la  Plata  varies  in  width  from  thirty  to  one  hundred 
miles.  It  has  a  roomy  channel,  but  its  depth — only  twenty- 
three  feet — will  not  permit  deep-draft  vessels  an  approach  to  the 
city.  Thus  it  can  never  be  taken  by  a  modern  navy,  and  has 


TER-FRONT  OF  BUENOS  AIRES. 


312  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

only  to  fear  the  time  when  aeroplanes  shall  be  an  effective 
adjunct  of  a  hostile  navy.  The  Rio  de  la  Plata  is  one  of  the 
world's  greatest  rivers.  With  its  tributaries,  including  the 
Parana  and  Uruguay  Rivers,  it  drains  an  area  of  over  2,000,000 
square  miles,  a  somewhat  larger  territory  than  is  drained  by 
the  Mississippi. 

The  approach  to  Buenos  Aires  from  the  Rio  de  la  Plata 
would  at  once  impress  a  Chicagoan,  or  an  American  living  in  a 
grain-growing  or  stock-raising  region,  that  the  question  of 
export  and  import  transportation  had  been  solved. 

Immense  lengths  of  docks,  lined  with  Government  store- 
houses, grain  elevators,  cattle  pens,  cold  storage  plants,  railroad 
freight  terminals,  and  thousands  of  freight  cars  from  the  15,- 
ooo  miles  of  railroads  that  cover  the  republic,  meet  the  eye  in 
one  long,  busy  panorama.  The  docks  where  one  lands  are 
not  miles  away  from  the  city.  They  are,  you  might  say,  in  the 
center,  being  only  six  blocks  from  the  stock  exchange,  banks 
and  big  hotels.  When  the  city  is  first  seen  it  gives  the  visitor 
the  idea  that  the  people  must  be  moving  continually.  They 
are ;  but  nobody  is  moving  out — they  are  all  moving  in. 

Buildings  of  all  kinds,  when  I  was  there,  were  being  run 
up  with  great  rapidity ;  that  is  to  say,  with  great  rapidity  for  a 
Latin  country,  where  the  motto  is  manana  (tomorrow).  With- 
in the  last  five  years,  however,  there  have 
been  built  twenty-five  large  hotels.  They  are 
now  running  at  full  capac-  ity,  and  most  of  them 
are  absolutely  up-to-date  in  every  respect,  and  mofe 
are  being  constructed  to  it  II  meet  the  demand. 


THE    HUGE    CAPITOL    AND    CONGRESSIONAL    BUILDING,    BUENOS 

AIRES,    NOT   ENTIRELY   COMPLETED.       IT   COVERS 

FOUR    ENTIRE   BLOCKS. 


314 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


ANOTHER  VIEW   OF   THE  GREAT   COLON   THEATER,    BUENOS  AIRES. 

A  new  congressional  or  capitol  building,  occupying  four 
complete  blocks,  is  almost  completed.  Words  will  not  describe 
the  magnificence  of  this  structure.  The  new  Colon  theater — 
the  grand  opera  house — takes  up  an  entire  square,  and  was 
erected  by  funds  realized  from  the  issuing  of  bonds  by  the  city: 
The  new  School  of  Medicine,  a  library  building,  with  here 
and  there  a  modern  skyscraper  were  all  pushing  their  heads 
upward. 

All  of  the  material  used  in  construction  has  to  be  imported 
from  abroad,  the  steel,  lumber,  and  some  cement  coming  from 
the  United  States,  together  with  tools  and  machinery.  Con- 
siderable more  would  come  from  Uncle  Sam's  domain  if  we 
would  only  try  to  please  our  possible  customers,  pack  and  ship 
for  export  and  learn  to  talk  Spanish.  Terms  are  good,  and 
credit  sound  in  Buenos  Aires. 

I  found  the  streets  uncomfortably  crowded  at  all  times. 


ARGENTINA 


315 


The  sidewalks  are  fearfully,  and  to  the  stranger,  dangerously 
narrow,  being  only  from  three  to  four  feet  in  width.  The 
whizzing,  clanging  electric  cars,  often  wider  than  the  street 
space  allotted  to  them,  run  on  tracks  about  a  foot  from  the 
curbstone,  so  that  a  passenger  may  mount  from  the  pavement. 
A  mother  and  two  daughters,  when  out  shopping,  walk 
along  Indian  file,  so  they  may  pass  pedestrians  from  the  oppo- 
site direction ;  the  younger  daughter  first,  her  sister  following, 
while  the  watchful  mother  brings  up  the  rear.  Buenos  Aires  is 


THE  SCHOOL  OF   MEDICINE,   BUENOS  AIRES. 

not  a  quiet  city,  although  no  streets  are  paved  with  cobble- 
stones, all  being  laid  with  wood  or  asphalt.  The  continuous, 
mixed-up,  and  badly-handled  traffic  contributes  in  no  small  de- 
gree to  the  tumult,  as  do  the  gongs  of  the  cars,  the  shouts  of 
the  "cabbies"  and  the  yells  of  the  newsboys. 

The  shop  windows  are  very  attractive  and  seem  to  combine 
all  that  is  best  in  American,  English  or  French  products  and 
styles.  When  one  stops  on  the  sidewalk  to  look  into  a  window 
persons  passing  by  have  to  take  to  the  street,  as  only  two  people 


ARGENTINA 


3*7 


can  stand  abreast. 
The  narrow 
streets,  however, 
have  two  advant- 
ages— they  cost  lit- 
tle to  maintain  and 
they  afford  shade ; 
furthermore,  they 
make  such  high 
buildings  as  are 
seen  in  New  York 
and  Chicago  irn- 
possible,  thus 
spreading  out  the 
city. 

I  obs  e  r  v  e  d  a 
very  curious  thing 
about  the  people 
and  their  choice  of 
streets  when  shop- 
ping. Not  long 
since  the  munici- 
pality tore  down 
several  valu  able 
buildings  and 
opened  a  wide 
street,  the  Avenida 
de  Mayo,  in  the 

center  of  the  city,  planting  trees  along  its  sides,  from  Plaza 
de  Mayo,  the  principal  square,  to  the  site  of  the  new  con- 
gressional building,  the  same  as  Pennsylvania  avenue  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  only  much  better  improved.  Its  side- 
walks are  wide,  roomy,  and  well-paved,  the  roadway  is 
asphalted  and  there  are  shelter  islands  for  timid  crossers.  It 
is  an  ideal  street  for  shops,  stores  and  general  promenade,  but 
the  people  will  not  shop  on  it,  and  it  is  only  used  by  strangers 
for  promenades,  while  Florida  avenue,  a  much  narrower 
street,  with  smaller  houses,  stores  and  sidewalks,  is  so  crowded 
during  the  day  that  by  police  regulations  all  traffic  vehicles  are 


A  PRIVATE  RESIDENCE  IN  BUENOS  AIRES. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


excluded  from  five  p.  m.  to  seven-thirty  p.  m.,  there  being  no 
street  cars  on  this  thoroughfare. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  I  mentioned  the  matter  of  the  tem- 
perance of  the  people  and  the  absence  of  drunkenness,  but  there 
are  many  saloons  and  restaurants  all  over  the  city.  They  are 
well  patronized,  yet  drunkenness  is  scarcely  known.  If  you 
see  an  intoxicated  man,  it  is  a  foregone  conclusion  that  he  is  a 
foreigner ;  you  have  three  guesses  as  to  his  nationality  and  you 


VIEW  OF  THE  PLAZA  VICTORIA  AND 


cannot  lose — first,  English ;  second,  German ;  third,  American. 

Notwithstanding  the  excellent  street  railway  system  in 
Buenos  Aires  the  present  congestion  of  traffic  and  lack  of  trans- 
portation are  serious  problems  for  both  the  people  and  the 
State.  The  tramway  of  the  city  is  under  control  of  one  gigantic 
corporation,  called  the  Anglo-Argentine  Tramway  Company, 
an  English  company  with  a  paid-up  capital  of  $85,000,000  gold. 

Recently  the  tramway  company  and  a  steam  railroad  com- 


ARGENTINA 


319 


pany  acquired  a  concession  to  construct  tunnels  and  subways 
under  the  city.  Work  has  already  begun  on  this  project,  and 
in  three  years,  six  of  the  crowded  thoroughfares  will  have  no 
surface  cars  on  them  at  all.  In  order  to  get  their  concession 
they  had  to  vacate  some  of  the  congested  streets  of  surface 
cars — not  a  bad  trade  for  the  city.  How  many  of  our  alder- 
men would  think  of  forcing  a  corporation  to  do  anything  for 
the  people?  The  fare  is  five  cents,  United  States  money, 


.VENIDA  DE  MAYO,  BUENOS  AIRES. 


and  the  company  pays  twelve  per  cent  dividends. 

There  are  thousands  of  automobiles,  but  most  of  them  are 
privately  owned.  The  meters  on  the  motor  cars  for  hire  here 
run  as  fast  as  in  New  York,  where  it  costs  four  dollars  an  hour 
"to  ride"  in  a  motor  taxi  when  it  is  "dead."  There  are  also 
thousands  of  handsome  turnouts,  horses  and  carriages  being 
seen  everywhere,  and  especially  in  the  afternoons  in  the  parks 
and  on  the  boulevards  "when  the  world  and  his  girl  take  a 


320 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


ride."  The  country  roads 
are  impossible  for  motor 
cars,  hence  the  horse  is  still 
king  in  Argentina. 

The  native  is  perhaps  the 
most  luxurious  spendthrift 
in  the  world — and  he  has 
the  price.  His  father,  as  an 
immigrant,  made  little 
money,  but  the  property  he 
acquired  advanced  in  value 
rapidly  while  he  skimped 
and  saved.  The  son,  born 
in  this  country,  receives  an 
education  second  to  none; 
his  position  is  infinitely  su- 
perior to  his  father's  and 
he  has  to  prove  it  continu- 
ally. Prices  in  Buenos 
Aires  are  the  highest  of 
any  city  in  the  world. 
Nothing  seems  cheap  and 
plentiful  but  the  dirty  pa- 
per money.  I  never  re- 
alized before  why  it  was 
called  "filthy  lucre." 

This  brings  me  to  the 
monetary  system  of  the 
country.  Argentina  is  the 
only  country  in  the  world,  not  on  a  gold  basis,  where  you  can 
exchange  your  paper  money — there  is  no  silver — for  a  fixed 
price  in  gold  at  any  time,  and  this  price  is  fixed  by  law. 

There  is  a  unit  of  one  dollar  gold,  there  is  another  unit  of 
national  currency  of  one  dollar  paper  (un  peso).  A  paper 
dollar  is  not  worth  a  gold  dollar  and  never  will  be,  because  the 
law  says  it  is  worth  only  forty-four  cents  in  gold,  and  that  is 
all  you  take  it  for,  and  it  is  convertible  into  gold  at  that  value 
any  time.  But  nobody  wants  gold,  and  thousands  of  Argen- 
tinians would  not  recognize  gold  or  take  it  if  offered  to  them. 


TYPES  OF  BEAUTIFUL  WOMEN 
SEEN  IN  BUENOS  AIRES. 


ARGENTINA 


321 


The  Government  has  one  large  bank,  the  Caja  de  Covercion, 
where  there  is  $200,000,000  in  gold.  This  vast  hoard  of  the 
yellow  metal  is  to  secure  the  paper  money  in  circulation. 

The  appearance  of  prosperity  in  Buenos  Aires  is  undeniable, 
yet  many,  especially  foreigners,  are  very  poorly  paid  and  live  a 
hand-to-mouth  existence.  An  American,  who  cannot  speak 
the  language,  without  capital  and  nothing  to  sell  but  his  labor, 
had  better  stay  at  home.  If  he  can  speak  Spanish,  which 


THE   COURTS   OF   JUSTICE,    BUENOS  AIRES. 

should  be  taught  in  all  our  schools — and  will  be  some  day — he 
can  find  plenty  to  do  at  a  profit. 

Mechanics  of  all  kinds  obtain  work  with  ease,  but  in  the 
city  they  find  it  difficult  to  save  on  account  of  the  extraordi- 
nary high  cost  of  living.  Such  men  as  policemen,  street 
cleaners,  firemen,  and  other  city  employes,  are  disgracefully 
underpaid — a  policeman  gets  only  $35  gold  a  month.  The 
effect  of  this  is  shown  in  the  quality  of  men  who  apply  for  the 
position. 

There  is  a  general  tendency  toward  extravagance  among 
21 


322  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE  PALACE  OF  THE  FINE  ARTS,  BUENOS  AIRES. 

all  classes.  The  tendency  is  to  spend  in  all  directions.  Of 
course,  the  enormous  prosperity  is  the  cause  of  this. 

Although  progressive  in  every  way  in  things  commercial, 
the  real  citizen  of  this  country  is  still  quite  conservative  as  re- 
gards his  social  relations,  family  life  and  what  he  considers 
his  code  of  honor.  He  will  entertain  you  freely  at  his  club 
and  take  you  to  the  theater,  but  when  he  invites  you  to  his 
home  he  believes  in  you,  and  has  conferred  the  greatest  honor 
he  can  give. 

The  duello  is  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  so  much  so  that 
the  papers  either  ignore  it,  or  in  the  case  of  very  prominent 
parties,  only  allude  to  it.  Frequently  the  duels  are  fatal.  In 
no  case  does  the  Government  interfere,  although  it  is  contrary 
to  law ;  but  it  is  a  "dead  law,"  public  opinion  being  against  its 
enforcement. 


ARGENTINA 


323 


A  friend  of  mine  in 
Buenos  Aires,  a  news- 
paper man,  who  has 
fought  many  duels,  was 
challenged  while  I  was 
there.  He  accepted,  se- 
lected pistols  —  he  is  a 
dead  shot — but  after  due 
consideration  the  man 
who  challenged  him  con- 
cluded that  the  reflection 
was  only  on  his  business 
and  not  his  personal 
honor,  hence  there  was 
nothing  to  fight  about. 
Probably  a  life  was 
saved,  but  I  lost  an  op- 
portunity to  see  a  first- 
class  affair  of  honor  set- 


MONUMENT  TO  THE   INDEPEND- 
ENCE OF  ARGENTINA, 
BUENOS  AIRES. 


i    3 


tied    by   the   rules   of   the 
code. 

Long  before  the  city  of 
Buenos  Aires  reached 
1,000,000  inhabitants  the 
question  of  the  food  supply 
for  its  citizens  became  a 
problem.  There  were 
markets,  to  be  sure,  but  the 
enormous  freights  and  the 
number  of  hands  through 
which  every  article  for  con- 
sumption had  to  pass, 
drove  prices  up  to  several 
hundred  per  cent  greater 
than  when  the  goods  left 
the  hands  of  the  producer. 
In  addition  to  that,  supplies 
of  provisions  and  vegeta- 


THE  CITY  WATER  RESERVOIR  OF 
BUENOS  AIRES,  ITS  WIN- 
DOWS ARE  "MAKE  BE- 
LIEVE/' NOT  REAL. 


ARGENTINA 


325 


SILO   SHAPED   CONCRETE  GRAIN   ELEVATOR,    BUENOS  AIRES. 

bles  were  intermittent  and  not  at  all  reliable.  Of  late  years, 
however,  new  markets  have  been  built  and  a  better  system  of 
bringing  the  produce  right  to  the  consumer  has  been  organ- 
ized. Still,  while  meat  is  cheap,  the  prices  of  vegetables  and 
fruits  are  enormous. 

Within  twenty-five  miles  of  Buenos  Aires  there  is  a  natural 
fruit  garden,  on  the  delta  formed  by  the  many  streams  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Parana,  yet  the  delivery  of  the  fruit  raised 
in  this  locality  has  been  so  manipulated  by  various  rings  that 
the  consumer  pays  about  1,000  per  cent  more  than  the  orchard 
man  receives.  Recently  the  mayor  of  Buenos  Aires  inaugu- 
rated a  system  of  what  are  known  as  free  markets,  which  were 
centrally  located,  and  which  met  with  instantaneous  success. 

The  press  of  Buenos  Aires  is  a  complete  surprise  to  any 
visitor  in  the  city.  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  oldest  daily 
newspaper  in  Buenos  Aires,  in  fact  in  the  whole  of  South 
America — that  never  missed  a  number— is  printed  in  English. 
It  is  known  as  the  Buenos  Aires  Standard  and  is  just  fifty 
years  old. 

For  many  years  the  Prensa  has  held  the  proud  position  of 
being  the  popular  newspaper  of  the  country,  and  is  yet  re- 


326  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

garded  as  "the  old  standby/'  Next  to  it  comes  the  Nation,  a 
higher  class  paper  with  a  smaller  circulation. 

There  are  about  five  hundred  different  publications  in  Ar- 
gentina, of  which  one  hundred  and  six  are  in  Buenos  Aires. 
The  Herald  is  a  very  good  English  daily.  About  three  years 
ago  the  Mulhall  Brothers,  who  are  the  owners  of  the  Standard, 
started  a  daily  paper  called  La  Argentina,  which  was  initiated 
on  absolutely  American  methods.  It  was  an  instantaneous 
success,  and  has  the  largest  circulation  of  any  newspaper  in 
South  America.  The  price  of  the  paper  was  made  an  even  five 
cents,  Argentina  money  (two  cents  in  United  States  money), 
which  is  the  smallest  nickel  coin  in  circulation.  What  it  has 
accomplished  is  due  to  the  energy,  enterprise  and  courage  of 
its  owner,  Mr.  Edward  T.  Mulhall.  Several  challenges  and 
one  or  two  duels  have  been  the  result  of  this  new  journalism. 

Buenos  Aires  is  well  provided  with  large  and  soundly  in- 
stituted banks.  Of  their  reliability  there  can  be  no  question, 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  THE  BANKING  DISTRICT,  BUENOS  AIRES. 


ARGENTINA  327 

but  as  to  the  system  of  banking,  so  far  as  it  affects  the  con- 
venience of  the  public,  there  is  ample  room  for  criticism. 

There  are  four  large  English  banks,  one  Spanish,  two  Ital- 
ian, two  French,  two  German,  and  others  of  native  capital.  The 
London  and  River  Plata  bank,  and  the  London  and  Brazilian 
bank,  have  each  a  subscribed  capital  of  $10,000,000,  and  pay 
a  regular  annual  dividend  of  twenty  and  fifteen  per  cent  re- 
spectively. The  Bank  of  the  Nation,  the  national  institution, 
has  a  subscribed  and  deposited  capital  of  $35,697,600;  it  is  the 
only  bank  which  issues,  or  rather  has  issued  in  the  past,  na- 
tional currency. 

With  the  growing  importance  of  the  Argentine  Republic 
as  a  country,  the  business  of  these  banks  is  naturally  very 
profitable.  Almost  every  man  in  business  is  carrying  on  his 
affairs  with  money  borrowed  from  banks.  He  accepts  paper 
and  discounts  it ;  he  also  has  an  overdraft,  which  in  many  cases 
exceeds  his  actual  capital.  But  this  credit  is  easily  obtained 
where  it  is  seen  that  he  is  actively  engaged  in  doing  business. 

One  of  the  most  powerful  institutions,  and  an  American 
one  at  that,  is  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  The 
management  of  it  is  American  all  through,  but  it  is  conducted 
equally  for  the  benefit  of  English  and  American  residents. 
There  are  supposed  to  be  about  30,000  English-speaking  people 
in  the  city  of  Buenos  Aires,  although  there  are  times  when  an 
American,  who  speaks  no  Spanish,  will  hardly  believe  it — he 
has  such  trouble  in  finding  somebody  who  can  understand  him. 

The  Stock  Exchange  of  Buenos  Aires,  otherwise  known  as 
the  Bolsa,  is  still  no  more  than  in  its  infancy;  it  is  a  weak, 
puling  baby  at  that.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  are  no  real 
trusts  in  Argentina  and  few  industrial  securities  in  which  to 
gamble. 

In  the  matter  of  schools,  not  only  Buenos  Aires,  but  the 
whole  country,  as  far  as  the  cities  are  concerned,  can  boast  of 
being  well  provided,  the  educational  system  being  splendidly 
carried  out,  and  the  children  of  foreign  immigrants  also  being 
provided  for  in  the  educational  institutions. 

The  churches  of  Buenos  Aires  may  be  described,  for  the 
most  part,  as  of  the  plain  and  useful  variety ;  they  are  neither 
startling  nor  attractive  in  architecture,  except  the  cathedral, 


5  S 

K  < 

"  S 

D  « 


P3    O 
•J    ^ 


w  o 


H  a 
<  o 

u  2 

C/3 

p 

O 


ARGENTINA 


329 


which  is  unusual  in  construction  and  one  of  the  show  places 
of  the  city.  Some  of  them  are  very  old,  but  they  are  built 
upon  the  same  simple,  severe  plan. 

From  an  historical  point  of  view  there  is  an  interesting 
church  in  Calle  (street)  Defensa.  The  Argentinians  claim 
that  they  and  the  United  States  are  the  only  countries  that  ever 
whipped  the  English,  and  this  old  church  figures  in  the  history 
of  their  affair  with  England.  A  body  of  England's  troops  once 
attempted  to  take  Buenos  Aires,  and  the  city  was  bombarded. 
The  church  on  Calle  Defensa  was  partly  demolished,  and  as  a 
memento  of  this  the  cannon  balls — nice,  smooth,  round  affairs 
—were  set  in  the  plaster  of  the  tower  of  the  church  when  it 
was  rebuilt,  and  they  look  very  curious  as  they  are  seen  pro- 
jecting from  the  imitation  stone  work. 

There  are  no  churchyards  to  the  churches,  the  dead  being 
buried  in  cemeteries.  Of  these,  the  two  principal  burying- 
grounds  in  the  city  are  the  Recoleta  and  the  Chacarita.  The 
former  is  perhaps  the  most  crowded  cemetery  anywhere,  being 
comparatively  small,  and  as  a  result,  it  is  absolutely  jammed 


ENTRANCE   TO   RECOLETA   CEMETERY,   BUENOS   AIRES. 


VIEWS   IN    RECOLETA    CEMETERY,    BUENOS   AIRES. 


ARGENTINA 


with  costly  and  imposing  vaults  and  tombs,  and  many  of  these 
are  open  so  that  the  entire  interior  may  be  seen. 

On  All  Saints'  Day  an  extraordinary  sight  may  be  witnessed 
in  the  Recoleta,  as  thousands  of  candles  are  burned  on  that 
day  in  the  vaults,  and  a  constant  vigil  is  kept  by  the  relatives  of 
the  dead  inmates  of  the  tombs. 

There  are  few  cities  in  the  world,  of  the  size  of  Buenos 
Aires,  where  so  much  electric  power  and  light  are  used.  All  the 
streets  are  magnificently  lighted,  especially  in  the  center  of  the 
city,  and  as  there  are  many  feast  days  during  the  year,  when 
all  the  public  buildings  and  most  of  the  commercial  houses  are 
brilliantly  illuminated,  the  amount  of  current  that  is  used  is 
some  thing  enor- 
mous. 

The  ordinary  pri- 
vate residence  of  a 
Buenos  Aires  family 
is  far  from  being 
either  comfortable, 
attra  c  t  i  v  e,  or,  in 
some  respects, 
healthful.  It  is 
Spanish  in  its  con- 
c  e  p  t  i  o  n,  and  its 
rooms  have  glass 
doors,  but  no  win- 
dows, with  the  usual 
patio  or  court  in  the 
middle.  There  is  no 
provision  made  for 
heating  in  cold 
weather,  and  there 
is  seldom  hot  water 
for  bathing. 

Recently,  h  o  w- 
ever,  many  modern 
houses  have  been 
erected  by  the  rich 
who  have  traveled 

ONE  OF  THE   MANY  BEAUTIFUL  MODERN 
RESIDENCES  OF  BUENOS  AIRES. 


332  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

abroad  and  enjoyed  real  comforts,  profiting  thereby  in  build- 
ing their  residences.  Some  enterprising  persons  have  erected 
flat  buildings,  which  have  all  the  modern  improvements  to  be 
found  in  such  buildings  in  Chicago  and  New  York. 

The  city  of  Buenos  Aires  is  entitled  to  its  proud  position  as 
the  commercial  capital  of  South  America,  as  well  as  being  the 
political  capital  of  the  most  prosperous  republic,  except  the 
United  States,  on  the  Western  Hemisphere. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
SOME  ITEMS  OF  ARGENTINIAN    HISTORY. 

INHERE  is  probably  no  other  country  in  the  world  whose 
JL  history,  constitution  and  form  of  government  so  closely 
resemble  those  of  the  United  States  as  do  Argentina's.  In  age, 
as  a  republic,  it  is  some  thirty  years  younger.  Its  struggle  for 
freedom  and  independence  from  Spain  was  brought  about  in 
much  the  same  way  as  our  own  from  England,  although  per- 
haps somewhat  more  easily.  Men  fitted  for  the  great  work 
arose,  fought,  bled  and  died  and,  as  accident  determined,  were 
buried  as  national  heroes  or  faded  away  into  obscurity. 

The  Rio  de  la  Plata  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  by  Solis, 
in  a  desire  to  emulate  Christopher  Columbus,  in  the  year  1515. 
Others  soon  followed  and  founded  the  Spanish  colonies  that 
are  now  merged  into  the  Uruguayan  and  Argentine  republics. 
The  Colonial  period  is  not  particularly  interesting  as  history 
except  to  the  Spanish  student.  It  was  followed  by  what  is 


PRESIDENT'S  PALACE,  ON  THE'  PLAZA  VICTORIA,  BUENOS  AIRES, 

ARGENTINA. 

333 


334  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

known  as  tlie  Viceroy  period,  which  system  led  by  slow  de- 
grees to  the  ultimate  rising  of  the  colonies  and  breaking  of  the 
yoke  of  Spain.  But  while  in  the  case  of  the  United  States  the 
great  grievance  was  taxation  without  representation,  that  of 
the  settlers  in  South  America  was  the  lack  of  protection  by 
Spain  of  her  colonies  against  her  enemies,  principally  the 
English.  Poor  Spain,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  was  too  busy  at 
home  righting  the  same  enemy  to  pay  much  attention  to  the 
troubles  of  her  poor  relations  abroad.  So  the  South  Ameri- 
cans banded  together  to  defend  themselves.  A  succession 
of  unexpected  events,  incompetent  commanding  and,  per- 
haps, the  inscrutable  decrees  of  Fate,  led  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Buenos  Aires,  under  Liniers,  obtaining  a  sweeping  victory  over 
a  force  of  10,000  British  who  landed  in  the  city  from  Monte- 
video, then  actually  in  the  hands  of  England. 

Lieutenant-General  Whitelock  and  his  whole  army  were 
taken  prisoners  by  Liniers  after  a  brilliant  fight.  They  were 
only  set  free  by  yielding  to  Liniers'  demand  that  Montevideo 
should  also  be  evacuated.  Thus  Montevideo  was  restored  to 
Spain,  temporarily,  by  Buenos  Aires. 

But  it  was  the  effect  of  this  victory  over  a  picked  force  of 
British  in  Buenos  Aires  that  led  to  the  downfall  of  Spain  in 
South  America.  The  great  struggle  came  and  Argentina  shook 
herself  free  first  in  1810,  and  her  big  sister  up  North,  the 
United  States,  was  the  first  to  welcome  her  and  recognize  her 
independence.  The  memorable  day,  May  25,  1810,  when 
Buenos  Aires  won  her  independence,  has  ever  since  been  cele- 
brated as  the  Argentinian  "Fourth  of  July."  All  the  other 
colonies  under  the  Spanish  rule  followed  suit  in  quick  succes- 
sion within  a  very  few  years. 

Like  the  United  States,  Argentina  has  two  popular  national 
heroes,  San  Martin  and  Bartolome  Mitre.  There  are  others, 
many  of  them ;  but  these  two  always  emerge  to  the  front,  after 
periodical  anniversary  runs  on  others,  easy  victors  and  the  real 
thing  in  historical  heroes.  In  fact,  they  occupy  in  the  hearts 
of  the  Argentinians  the  same  position  that  Washington  and 
Lincoln  hold  with  us.  Yet  San  Martin,  after  sacrificing  him- 
self, his  ambitions  and  his  prospects  to  further  the  freedom 
of  his  country,  was  allowed  to  leave  it,  almost  in  disgrace,  be- 


ARGENTINA 


335 


TPIE   SAN    MARTIN    MONUMENT,   BUENOS  AIRES. 

cause  he  would  not  engage  in  politics  and  comic  opera  civil 
wars.  He  died  in  obscurity  at  Boulogne-sur-Mer,  in  France, 
in  1850.  It  was  only  years  afterward  that  the  Argentinians 
were  seized  with  a  spasm  of  gratitude  toward  the  man  who 
really  brought  about  their  freedom,  and  had  his  body  brought 
back  in  pomp  and  state  to  his  country  on  a  man-of-war.  It 
now  lies  in  a  fitting  tomb  in  the  cathedral  at  Buenos  Aires. 

Bartolome  Mitre  was  a  soldier,  statesman,  art-lover  and 
intense  patriot.  Most  patriotic  utterances  on  record  that  are 
treasured  by  Argentinians  are  his.  His  term  of  presidency  was 
one  that  is  quoted  for  its  cleanness.  In  fact,  Mitre  was  not  a 
rich  man  either  before  or  after  he  was  elected,  and  derived  his 
income  from  the  ownership  and  publication  of  La  Nation,  the 
greatest  influence  for  liberty  and  justice  in  this  country.  Great 
honors  were  accorded  General  Mitre  at  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred about  seven  years  ago. 

Of  Presidents  of  the  country  there  is  an  assortment  from 
which  to  choose.  The  names  that  will  live  most  vividly  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  have  some  specialty  attached  to  them. 
There  is  Sarmiento,  "the  sapient,"  he  might  be  called.  He  is 


336  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

credited  with  having  done  more  to  further  education  in  Argen- 
tina than  all  the  rest  of  its  rulers  put  together.  It  was  Sarmi- 
ento  who  brought  down  a  batch  of  American  school  teachers  to 
Argentina,  male  and  female,  some  of  whom  are  still  living  and 
drawing  pensions  from  the  Government.  He  had,  previous  to 
his  election,  been  a  resident  in  Washington  for  many  years, 
where  he  was  Argentina's  minister  to  the  United  States.  He 
had  intense  faith  in  everything  American. 

There  have  been  tyrants  also  in  this  free  and  independent 
republic.  At  least,  there  has  been  one,  Rosas,  the  Dictator,  as 
he  was  called.  Rosas  was  undoubtedly  a  tyrant  of  the  most 
pronounced  type.  But  he  was  also  a  soldier  of  unflinching 
courage  and  in  many  ways  covered  the  country  with  glory. 
Rosas  carried  his  despotism  to  such  an  extent  that  a  junta  was 
formed  which  brought  the  Italian  liberator,  Garibaldi,  to  the 
country,  with  the  secret  intention  of  assassinating  or  removing 
Rosas  in  some  other  way.  Garibaldi  gave  up  the  idea  and 
went  back  to  Italy.  Rosas  was  dethroned  at  last,  however,  and 
escaped  to  England,  where  he  died,  in  Southampton,  twenty- 
five  years  later. 

Of  Presidents  who  have  excelled  in  sheer  statesmanship  and 
diplomacy,  the  model  is  found  in  the  person  of  General  Julio 
R-Oca,  who  served  two  terms  and  is  still  living  at  the  time 
of  this  writing.  It  was  during  General  Roca's  second  term 
that  the  long  pending  boundary  dispute  with  Chile  was  settled 
once  and  forever.  General  Roca  now  dabbles  but  little  in 
politics,  although  he  is  still  considered  quite  a  factor.  The 
caricaturists  always  draw  him  in  political  cartoons  as  a  fox,  on 
account  of  his  accredited  astuteness.  He  is  one  of  the  largest 
land  owners,  if  not  the  richest  man,  in  the  country.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  being  his  guest  at  his  La  Larga  ranch,  as  described 
in  a  later  chapter. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  constitution  of  the  Argentine 
Republic  is  founded  and  based  absolutely  on  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  on  that  only,  another  similarity  between 
the  two  republics  will  at  once  be  noticed.  Most  of  it  reads 
word  for  word  with  ours,  but  certain  sections  have  been  modi- 
fied to  accord  with  the  State  church,  Latin  ideas  and  Latin 
common  law.  There  are  many  things  in  the  constitution  of 


ARGENTINA 


337 


GENERAL  JULIO  A.  ROCA,  TWICE  PRESI- 
DENT OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF 
ARGENTINA. 

Argentina,  however,  which  have  not  been  adapted  and,  in  con- 
sequence, are  ignored  by  the  laws  of  the  country.  Trial  by 
jury,  for  instance,  is  provided  for  by  the  constitution,  but  not 
by  any  statute  in  existence.  When  a  man,  a  short  time  ago, 
demanded  a  trial  by  jury  from  the  Supreme  Federal  Court,  as 
a  constitutional  right,  the  court,  the  Government  and  the  coun- 
try were  all  in  a  quandary.  The  appeal  has  not  yet  been  an- 
swered— just  temporized  with. 

The  similarity  of  the  two  constitutions,  therefore,  provides 
for  a  similar  form  of  government  and  method  of  administra- 
22 


338  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

tion.  And  it  is  similar — on  paper.  The  President  of  the  re- 
public has  similar  powers  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
by  constitutional  right.  But  each  successive  President  has 
tacked  on  a  few  extra  powers,  which,  if  not  constitutional,  have 
become  firmly  embedded  by  precedent.  Only  three  years  ago 
ex-President  Alcorta  suddenly  and  peremptorily  adjourned 
Congress,  because  of  opposition  to  the  passing  of  the  appro- 
priation bill,  and  declared  the  same  for  that  year  a  law  by 
decree.  The  members  of  Congress  refused  to  adjourn  and 
tried  to  hold  sessions.  The  Congress  House  was  locked  up  and 
the  members  locked  out.  When  they  tried  to  force  an  entrance 
the  President  ordered  the  commanding  officers  of  the  police  to 
prevent  and  arrest  them.  The  comic  part  of  it  came  in  when 
the  chief  of  police  was  tried,  convicted  and  fined  and  suspended 
from  duty  for  obeying  orders.  But  that  decree  became  a  law 
and  has  remained  a  law. 

The  Government  of  Argentina,  therefore,  consists  of  the 
President,  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  or  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  as  it  is  called.  That  is  what  the  constitution  says 
it  is.  But  the  real  government  of  the  country  is  vested  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Executive  Power.  The  Executive  Power  con- 
sists of  the  President  and  the  Cabinet,  or  such  portion  of  the 
Cabinet  as  the  President  may  call  into  conclave.  The  Presi- 
dent forms  his  own  Cabinet.  If  the  Cabinet  meets  without  the 
President,  it  is  a  meeting  of  the  Cabinet,  but  not  of  the  Execu- 
tive Power.  The  President  now  calls  himself  the  President  of 
the  Nation  and  not  the  President  of  the  Republic.  This  is  not 
supported  by  the  constitution,  but  was  promulgated  by  the  pres- 
ent Executive  Power.  It  is  very  simple  and  very  easy  for  the 
party  in  power. 

There  are  fourteen  provinces — not  States — and  nine  terri- 
tories. Each  province  is  supposed  to  make  its  own  laws,  elect 
its  own  Governor  and  local  authorities.  They  do.  But  the 
power  of  the  Federal  President  looms  large  in  the  capital  of 
every  province.  What  is  known  as  "intervention"  is  a  matter 
of  constant  occurrence.  Sometimes  the  intervention  is  asked 
for  by  the  provincial  Governor,  sometimes  by  the  rest  of  the 
provincial  government  against  the  Governor.  It  might  be  asked 
for  by  a  new  party  altogether,  suddenly  mushroomed  into  exist- 


ARGENTINA  339 

ence.  Sometimes  it  is  not  asked  for  at  all,  but  is  considered 
about  due  in  that  particular  province.  But  whether  it  is  asked 
for  or  not,  it  is  never  refused  and,  in  fact,  is  liable  to  happen  at 
any  moment. 

During  my  stay  of  nearly  three  months  in  Argentina,  I  had 
been  in  ten  provinces  and  their  capitals.  Out  of  fourteen  I  met 
most  of  the  Governors  and  made  a  study  of  the  situation,  and  I 
am  satisfied  that  the  system  of  national  interference  is  not  a  bad 
one  for  the  people,  who  only  want  good  government,  and  not  the 
offices  for  what  there  is  in  them. 

Members  of  Congress  are  elected.  They  are  so  much  elected 
that  they  are  elected  long  before  election  day.  Elections  in 
Argentina  are  as  beautifully  certain  as  are  the  weather  or  the 
crops.  The  weather  here,  year  after  year,  is  periodically  per- 
fect. There  are  droughts,  then  heavy  rains.  Crops  yield 
richly,  their  only  enemies  being  the  drought  and  the  locusts. 
Revolutions  are  the  locusts  of  politics  and  elections.  The  only 
remedy  for  mistaken  government  for  years  has  been  in  revolu- 
tions. Elections  are  powerless.  The  outgoing  Government 
simply  nominates  and  elects  the  incoming  force.  And  so  it 
goes  on  like  the  perennial  growth  of  cereals. 

The  mainstay  of  the  Argentinian  army  is  conscription.  It  is 
also  its  principal  ailment.  Where  a  lot  of  neighboring  powers 
are  bunched  together  on  one  continent  and  rely  for  their  mili- 
tary strength  on  conscription,  it  is  simply  a  race  for  the  biggest 
army  or  navy.  Nothing  else.  The  country  that  increases  its 
population  fastest  is  raising  the  biggest  future  army.  A  peace 
convention  which  would  do  away  with  conscription  throughout 
South  America  would  render  war  impossible  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  There  was  a  funny  situation  connected  with  one  of  the 
last  revolutionary  elections  here.  The  Vice-President  was  cap- 
tured and  held  as  a  hostage.  He  wrote  the  President  that  his 
life  was  in  danger  and  would  pay  the  price,  if  the  President  did 
not  pardon  the  revolutionists — the  whole  affair  had  been  a  fail- 
ure. The  President  knew  the  Vice-President  was  in  sympathy 
with  the  opposition  and  that  this  was  only  a  ruse  for  pardon, 
so  he  wrote  back :  "It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  die  for  one's  coun- 
try." With  the  Monroe  Doctrine  of  Uncle  Sam  in  force  there 


340 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


is  no  danger  from  a  foreign  foe,  and  the  republics  in  South 
America  would  have  to  arbitrate. 

The  peace  forces  of  Argentina's  army  number  on  paper 
20,000  men.  The  cavalry  are  undoubtedly  the  best  of  the  ser- 
vice. The  field  artillery  is  much  open  to  criticism.  Taken  as 
a  whole,  the  Argentinian  soldier  is  undoubtedly  the  best,  physi- 
cally, in  South  America.  His  mixture  of  blood,  with  a  drop 
here  and  there  of  Celtic  and  a  dash  or  two  of  Anglo-Saxon, 
has  given  him  a  fighting  brain.  But  his  term  of  service  is  too 
short.  Still,  compared  to  other  armies  in  South  America. 
Argentina's  land  forces  can  be  counted  on  to  make  a  good 
showing. 

The  navy  is  an  unknown  quantity.  A  fever  for  big  battle- 
ships was  engendered  in  South  America  a  few  years  ago,  and 
Brazil  set  the  ball  rolling  by  ordering  "Super-Dreadnoughts." 
Argentina  was  compelled  to  follow  suit  and  went  Brazil  one 
better  by  ordering  two  monster  battleships  from  the  United 
States,  of  a  far  more  scientific  and  up-to-date  pattern.  But  the 


ADMIRAL   O  CONNOR,   OF   ARGENTINIAN    NAVY, 

WITH    WIFE   AND   DAUGHTER.       TYPES 

OF  ARGENTINIAN   HIGHER  CLASS. 


ARGENTINA 


341 


DR.  ROQUE  SAENZ  PENA,   PRESIDENT  OF 
THE  REPUBLIC  OF  ARGENTINA. 

personnel  of  the  navy,  that  is,  the  man  behind  the  gun,  is 
conscript,  also.  Consequently  the  body  and  backbone  of  the 
navy  is  constantly  passing  along  and  away.  Conscription  ren- 
ders Argentina's  navy,  as  stated,  an  unknown  quantity.  The 
training  of  officers,  the  school  of  command,  is  in  the  highest 
perfection.  But  here  again  we  are  confronted  with  a  regiment 
of  colonels  and  "nobody  to  carry  water  to  the  horses."  It  is  a 
mystery  to  the  marine  department  as  to  how  and  with  whom 
the  new  monster  destroyers,  coming  down  from  the  United 
States,  will  be  manned. 

Necessity  knows  no  law.     Perhaps  if  the  floating  leviathans 


342  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

are  ever  put  into  battle,  men  will  arise  and  stand  efficiently  at 
their  posts,  as  they  did  in  the  past,  and  enable  this  country 
safely  to  cast  its  bread  upon  the  wide  waters  of  the  world  and 
look  with  continued  pride  upon  its  flocks. 

It  is  difficult  for  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  under- 
stand why  the  elections  in  South  America  are  not  freer  than 
they  are.  If  you  understood  the  people  better  you  would  know 
that  in  many  cases  they  need  protection  from  their  own  acts. 
The  big,  unselfish  men  of  the  country  know  this,  or  the  condi- 
tion could  not  last,  any  more  than  did  the  Spanish  rule  when  it 
was  recognized  as  useless.  With  general  education — and  Argen- 
tina has  a  fine  system  of  free  schools — everything  will  change. 
In  twenty  years  Argentina,  and  nearly  all  the  South  American 
republics,  will  have  elections  as  unrestricted  as  they  are  now  in 
the  United  States.  Under  the  present  system,  life  and  property 
are  as  safe  as  in  any  country,  and,  after  all,  that  is  what  Gov- 
ernments are  for — not  for  the  jobs. 

I  had  the  honor  of  being  presented  to  Gen.  Roque  Saenz 
Pena,  the  President  of  the  republic,  who  has  the  confidence  of 
the  people  and  is  well  worthy  of  it.  He  offered  his  services  to 
Peru,  in  her  conflict  with  Chile,  and  fought  many  a  hard  battle 
for  that  country.  He  was  the  delegate  to  the  Pan-American 
Congress  at  Washington  and  delivered  an  address  in  English 
before  that  body.  I  had  a  long  audience  with  him  and  he  was 
much  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  United  States,  especially 
where  our  advances  and  institutions  would  benefit  his  country. 
I  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Robert  Woods  Bliss,  the  charge 
d'affaires  of  the  United  States  legation.  Our  legation  in  Argen- 
tina occupies  the  foremost  position  among  all  the  Governments 
represented.  The  military  attache  is  First  Lieut.  J.  S.  Ham- 
mond, from  Chicago,  who  is  very  popular  in  Argentina.  The 
United  States  is  well  represented  now  in  our  legation  and 
consular  service  in  South  America.  This  could  not  be  truth- 
fully said  up  to  a  few  years  ago. 


CHAPTER  XXL 
TOURING  THROUGH   ARGENTINA. 

WELL  do  I  remember,  how  as  a  boy,  I  used  to  hear  the 
"barkers"  in  front  of  the  sideshows  of  the  big  circus 
yelling :  "Walk  up,  gents,  buy  your  tickets !  Before  the  morn- 
ing sun  arises  we  will  be  many  miles  away !" 

It  was  after  this  fashion  I  "did"  Argentina  outside  of 
Buenos  Aires.  I  was  continually  "up  and  away."  The  rail- 
roads treated  me  with  the  greatest  courtesy,  placing  at  my  dis- 
posal a  private  car  having  sleeping,  observation,  and  cooking 
compartments,  in  the  care  of  which  Charlie,  my  personal  serv- 
ant, was  perfectly  at  home. 

For  over  a  month  I  lived  "on  wheels,"  most  of  the  time 
being  spent  in  going  from  one  place  to  another.  We  would 


MR.  BOYCE  IN   HIS  OBSERVATION  CAR. 

343 


344  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

"shoot  up"  a  town  or  city  and  the  surrounding  country  during 
the  day  with  our  cameras  (not  guns)  and  move  to  the  next 
place  during  the  night,  thus  saving  much  time. 

I  visited  the  capitals  of  ten  provinces  (States)  out  of  the 
fourteen  that  comprise  Argentina,  and  all  the  chief  cities  of  the 
country,  traveling  13,000  miles  by  railroad,  water  and  on  horse- 
back. 

Our  first  stand  on  this  long  trip  was  made  at  La  Larga, 
where  we  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  General  Roca,  twice  Presi- 
dent of  Argentina,  and  the  interesting  information  gained  there 
will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Ranches.  Here  I  found  a  sta- 
tion agent  and  telegraph  operator,  who  received  my  cables  from 
Chicago  and  got  every  word  correct. 

The  next  stop  was  Bahia  Blanca,  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the 
best  seaport  in  Argentina,  the  city  having  40,000  population. 
Here  I  spent  a  pleasant  evening  with  Mr.  Charles  H.  Doherty, 
formerly  of  Boston,  who  has  been  here  twenty  years ;  he  is  a 
successful  contractor  and  has  grown  rich  building  docks  and 
elevators.  At  dinner  in  Mr.  Doherty's  bachelor  apartments,  I 
met  Mr.  F.  A.  Jones,  another  "man  from  home,"  who  is  quite 
a  character.  He  was  the  United  States  consul  at  Bahia  Blanca 
for  seventeen  years  and  has  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  stories 
about  the  country.  The  third  American  at  the  dinner  was  Mr. 
Woodward,  a  Texan,  who  is  in  the  sheep  business.  During 
one  of  the  revolutions  he  was  put  in  jail  and  all  his  sheep  taken 
from  him.  He  has  never  received  any  satisfaction  and  our 
Government  has  never  taken  the  trouble  to  secure  justice  for 
him. 

Mr.  Arthur  H.  Coleman,  the  local  manager  for  the  South- 
ern Railway,  took  me  around  in  a  tug,  and  I  thus  got  a  compre- 
hensive idea  of  the  port  and  its  present  and  future  importance. 
The  city  of  Bahia  Blanca  is  very  substantially  built.  Three 
railroads  have  terminals  here,  the  first  in  importance  being  the 
Southern  Railway,  because  it  more  completely  serves  the  terri- 
tory around  this  port,  and  "being  on  the  ground  first"  it  se- 
cured the  most  valuable  terminal  sites.  They  have  great  docks, 
elevators  and  warehouses  and  can  handle  2,000  cars  of  freight 
per  day. 

The  second  railroad  in  point  of  importance  is  the  Buenos 


ARGENTINA 


345 


Aires  and  Pacific,  which  has  a  line  down  through  the  center  of 
Argentina,  connecting  east  to  Buenos  Aires,  and  west  to  Men- 
doza  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Its  terminal  here  is  a  few  miles 
south  and  west  of  the  Southern,  where  it  has  built  large  grain 
elevators  and  a  flour  mill. 

The  French  line  from  Rosario  direct  to  Bahia  Blanca  has 
no  permanent  terminal  and  lands  at  the  navy  docks,  where  it  is 
a  tenant  subject  to  notice  to  vacate  at  any  time.  This  road  is 
for  sale,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  built  as  a  "hold  up"  on 
the  other  roads. 

The  fact  that  this  port  is  the  only  one,  in  all  Argentina,  with 
water  deep  enough  (thirty  feet)  to  float  large  war  vessels, 
makes  it  of  first  impor- 
tance. The  port  is  thor- 
oughly protected  by  islands 
from  the  ocean,  and  is  the 
only  one  where  Argentina 
can  keep  the  two  great 
warships  being  built  for 
her  in  the  United  States. 

Southwest  of  Bahia 
Blanca  is  a  salt  mine  with 
enough  salt,  99  per  cent 
pure,  to  last  Argentina  for 
fifty  years ;  in  fact  the  sup- 
ply seems  inexhaustible, 
for  as  fast  as  the  salt  is  re- 
moved it  comes  up  from 
the  bottom. 

Mar  del  Plata  is  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  250  miles  directly 
south  of  Buenos  Aires.  It  is  the  summer  (October  to  April) 
Monte  Carlo  and  fashionable  watering  place  of  the  republic. 
All  kinds  of  gambling  games  are  run  here,  being  permitted  by 
the  Government,  and  the  only  limit  I  heard  of  was  the  blue 
sky — and  the  atmosphere  is  very  clear  here. 

It  is  a  very  dull  place  in  the  winter  (April  to  October),  but 
in  the  summer  has  a  population  of  50,000.  The  bathing  is 
good,  the  buildings  and  streets  very  modern,  and  an  unlimited 
amount  of  money  is  spent  during  the  season.  An  example  of 


SALT  MINE  NEAR  BAHIA  BLANCA, 
ARGENTINA. 


FISHERMEN'S  BOATS  AT  MAR  DEL  PLATA. 


MAR  DEL  PLATA,  THE  MOST  BEAUTIFUL  AND 


THE  HOTEL  BRISTOL,  MAR  DEL  PLATA. 


POPULAR   WATERING   PLACE   OF  ARGENTINA. 


348 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


the  cost  of  living  here  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  a  fairly  good 
lunch  costs  five  dollars ! 

La  Plata  is  located  on  the  coast  only  one  and  one-half 
hours'  ride  from  Buenos  Aires.  It  is  the  capital  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Buenos  Aires,  and  has  a  population  of  30,000.  At  one 
time  this  province  thought  it  was  all  Argentina ;  in  fact,  it  re- 
mained out  of  the  confederation  for  some  time,  and  for  the 
sake  of  peace  the  capital  of  the  province  was  separated  from 
the  capital  of  the  republic  about  thirty  years  ago. 

At  the  time  La  Plata  was  improved  by  provincial  capital 
buildings,  credit  was  so  good  that  unlimited  money  could  be 
secured,  and  the  costly  and  beautiful  buildings  are  monuments 
to  useless  expense  and  extravagance  for  which  the  people  were 
heavily  taxed,  and  which  did  much  to  bring  on  the  panic  of  the 
'8o's  all  over  the  world,  beginning  with  the  failure  of  the  great 
banking  house  of  Baring  Brothers,  of  London,  England,  who 
were  heavily  interested  in  financing  Argentinian  projects. 

It  is  impossible  to  separate  the  province  of  Buenos  Aires 
from  any  description  of  Argentina;  when  you  have  read  one 
you  know  the  other,  except  that  La  Plata  is  "the  place  the  fish 
come  from"  for  Buenos  Aires  and  the  interior  markets. 


There  is  a  splendid  chance  to 
dustry  all  along  the  coast  and 
Argentina,  as  it  is  in  its  infancy ; 
cheap  until  the  last  few  years 
catch  fish.  Omitting  the  port  of 
go  from  the  big  southern  port  of 


develop  the  fish  in- 
up  the  big  rivers  of 
meat  has  been  so 
that  it  did  not  pay  to 
Buenos  Aires,  as  we 
Bahia  Blanca  north- 


THE  GOVERNMENT   HOUSE,   LA   PLATA,    ARGENTINA. 


POLICE   HEADQUARTERS  AT  LA   PLATA,   ARGENTINA. 


THE  FINE  RAILWAY   STATION   AT  LA   PLATA,   ARGENTINA. 


350 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


ward,  the  next  great  port  is  Rosario,  population  200,000,  on 
the  Parana  River,  200  miles  northwest  of  Buenos  Aires.  This 
city  is  the  Chicago  of  Argentina.  Here  ocean-going  vessels 
drawing  up  to  nineteen  feet  of  water  come  from  the  ports  of 
the  world  and  return  laden  with  wheat,  corn,  alfalfa,  meat 
and  cattle. 

There  are  miles  of  docks  and  endless  warehouses  and  eleva- 
tors located  on  the  river,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  it  took 
me  two  hours  on  a  fast  power  boat  to  pass  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  It  is  the  most  wonderful  river  harbor  in  the  world, 
and  though  it  is  nearly  300  miles  from  the  ocean,  it  is  also  a  sea- 
port. You  see  the  flags  of  all  countries,  except  the  United 
States,  floating  from  the  masts  of  steam  and  sailing  vessels  of 
all  kinds,  from  the  barge  to  the  ocean  greyhound.  The  river 
is  three  miles  wide  here  and  nearly  one  hundred  miles  wide  at 
the  ocean. 

Fifty  per  cent  of  the  freight  traffic  is  handled  by  the  Ar- 
gentine Central  Railroad,  a  fact  I  learned  from  Mr.  Adams, 
division  superintendent  of  this  road,  who  gave  me  nearly  two 


MR.   BOYCE  ON   THE  BRIDGE  OF  THE   STEAMER  ALCARAZ,    PARANA 
RIVER,    ARGENTINA. 


WATER-FRONT  VIEWS  AT  ROSARIO,  ARGENTINA. 


352 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


days  of  his  time,  during  which  I  secured  much  information 
that  space  forbids  using. 

Mr.  Adams  is  the  president  of  an  organization  that  handles 
all  the  vessel  freight  in  Argentina.  The  freight  handlers,  or 
stevedores,  belong  to  no  union,  but  they  are  guaranteed  top 
wages  when  there  is  loading  and  unloading  to  be  done,  and 
are  paid  a  reasonable  amount  per  day  when  there  is  nothing  to 
do.  They  also  have  a  sick  and  death  fund,  and  the  absence  of 
strikes  at  any  time,  for  any  reason,  makes  it  possible  for  ship- 
pers and  vessel  owners  to  figure  when  they  can  receive  and 
discharge  cargoes.  This  plan  has  worked  well  for  five  years. 

The  next  port  going  north  is  Santa,  Fe,  a  city  of  20,000 
population,  which  is  the  capital  of  the  province  bearing  the 
same  name.  It  is  like  most  other  cities  of  Argentina — plaza, 
cathedral,  Government  buildings,  poor  hotel,  hustling  cab 
drivers. 

Santa  Fe  has  two  railroads  and  a  port  built  by  cutting  a 


PLAZA  AND  GENERAL  VIEW  IN 


ARGENTINA 


353 


canal  five  miles  long  to  the  Parana  River.  The  country  here 
and  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river  north  to  Paraguay  is  very 
low  and  swampy.  The  chief  export  from  this  port  is  timber. 

We  left  our  car  at  Santa  Fe  and  crossed  the  river  to  Pa- 
rana, which  is  a  pretty  city  built  on  a  high  bluff  overlooking 
the  Parana  River.  In  May,  1853,  a  national  congress  was  held 
in  Santa  Fe  which  sanctioned  a  federal  constitution  and  named 
Buenos  Aires  as  the  capital,  but  as  the  province  of  Buenos 
Aires  refused  to  join  the  federation,  the  seat  of  government 
was  located  at  Parana,  which  for  six  years  remained  the  capital. 
The  city  has  a  population  of  30,000  and  is  the  capital  of 
Parana.  Ships  drawing  fourteen  feet  of  water  can  dock  here 
and  it  has  a  good  port. 

The  provinces  of  Entre  Rios,  Corrientes  and  The  Missions 
form  a  very  important  part  of  Argentina.  The  country  com- 
prising these  provinces  is  not  prairie,  but  is  rolling  and  well 
watered  by  many  rivers ;  it  averages  1 ,000  feet  above  sea  level 


CITY  OF  SANTA  FE,  ARGENTINA. 


23 


A  BIRD  S-EYE  VIEW  OF  THE 


A  PANORAMIC  VIEW  OF  THE  CITY 


CITY  OF  PARANA,  ARGENTINA. 


1*1    CORRIENTES,  ARGENTINA. 


356 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


and  produces  much  grain,  while  cattle  and  sheep  do  exceed- 
ingly well.  The  whole  country  is  divided  up  into  smaller 
farms  than  the  remainder  of  Argentina,  and  will  support  a  very 
large  population.  In  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  depart- 
ment of  The  Missions  there  are  many  fine  water  powers,  and  I 
look  for  this  section  of  Argentina  to  improve  very  rapidly.  It 
all  lies  east  of  the  Parana  River. 

If  Uruguay,  the  Entre  Rios  country  and  Paraguay  were 
under  one  government  they  would  form  the  best  average  politi- 
cal division  in  South  America,  from  a  climatic  and  productive 
standpoint.  There  are  at  least  one  hundred  good  ports  in  this 
geographical  division,  from  many  of  which  ocean-going  vessels 
come  and  go. 

Crossing  back  over  the  Parana  to  the  west  side,  from  Corri- 
entes,  I  found  myself  in  the  Argentine  chaco,  a  tropical  swamp 
country  where  they  are  developing  cotton  and  cane  planta- 
tions. In  this  section,  for  three  hundred  miles  north  and  west, 
as  far  as  transportation  by  rail  or  water  reaches,  the  chief 


THE    CATHEDRAL,    PARANA,    ARGENTINA. 


358  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

industry  is  the  taking  out  and  shipping  of  quebracho  wood  to 
the  United  States  and  Europe. 

This  wood  is  used  for  tanning  hides  of  all  kinds.  It  is  a 
dark  red  in  color,  is  very  heavy  and  cannot  be  floated.  The 
trees  grow  about  thirty  feet  in  height  and  are  quite  crooked. 
Some  companies  grind  the  wood  into  a  powder  about  as  coarse 
as  sawdust,  which  makes  it  easy  to  ship.  Others  extract  the 
juice,  but  as  yet  more  of  it  is  shipped  in  logs  after  they  are 
"squared"  with  the  ax.  The  word  quebracho  is  the  Indian 


CATTLE   HIDES  IN  A  TANNERY  YARD,  ARGENTINA. 

term  for  "hard  on  ax,"  and  those  who  handle  the  wood  declare 
it  has  been  rightly  named. 

Returning  to  Santa  Fe,  we  boarded  our  car  for  the  northwest 
interior  near  the  foot  of  the  Andes  Mountains,  where  it  is  hot 
and  dry  and  the  chief  crops  are  cane  and  tropical  fruits,  grown 
by  irrigating  the  fertile  soil. 

I  met  a  newspaper  man  who  had  just  returned  from  ex- 
ploring the  section  north  of  Tucunian  in  search  of  cheap  land, 


ARGENTINA  359 

and  I  give  in  his  own  language  the  story  of  his  experience 
there : 

"I  arrived  late  in  the  evening  at  Pecoy,  a  collection  of  huts 
on  the  bank  of  the  river.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  place 
have  bad  records  and  are  proud  of  them.  I  was  in  doubt 
whether  to  feel  nervous  or  secure  in  this  place,  but  decided  to 
stop  until  some  decent  person  went  by  on  the  road.  I  began  to 
feel  queer — the  bad  water,  want  of  proper  food  and  little  sleep 
telling  on  me. 

"I  did  not  like  the  looks  of  the  first  man  that  turned  up  and 
announced  that  he  was  going  my  way.  However,  he  bunked 
alongside  of  me  and  the  next  morning  he  started  on,  but  finding 
that  I  did  not  follow  he  returned  in  the  afternoon. 

'That  night  he  went  to  his  mat  fully  dressed,  with  his  mule 
saddled  up  to  make  a  quick  getaway.  I  lay  down  late  with 
my  revolver  in  one  hand,  an  open  knife  in  the  other,  and  a  tin 
can  under  my  head  with  a  bit  of  wire  laid  around  to  make  a 
noise  and  waken  me  in  case  I  fell  asleep  and  was  attacked. 

"About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  my  companion  arose  and 
came  toward  me ;  I  covered  him  with  my  revolver  and  decided 
to  use  one  of  my  cartridges,  but  he  took  the  hint  and  lay  down 
again. 

"In  the  morning  the  woman  of  the  rancho,  who  was  evi- 
dently in  on  the  deal,  advised  me  to  leave  by  a  small  path  and 
make  my  escape — but  I  failed  to  take  the  hint.  I  waited  two 
more  days,  my  neighbor  regularly  starting  off  and  returning. 
He  finally  informed  me  that  a  family  from  Pecoy  was  going 
my  way,  and  as  I  evidently  distrusted  him  he  had  arranged  for 
me  to  accompany  them. 

"The  name  of  the  family  was  notorious.  I  waited  until  he 
started  again  and  then  I  left  along  the  cattle  trail  to  Lagua- 
rutas.  This  is  a  lonely  spot  some  thirty  miles  from  any  habita- 
tion, and  the  scene  of  many  cruel  murders. 

"What  was  my  surprise,  on  coming  to  the  river,  to  find 
the  family  waiting  for  me ;  it  was  composed  of  an  elderly  man, 
another  man  and  his  wife,  and  a  peon.  The  reception  they  ac- 
corded me  foreboded  no  good.  They  were  dining  and  I  had 
some  trouble  keeping  out  of  reach  of  their  big  knives. 

"Finally  they  mounted  and  I  rode  behind  them ;  I  had  my 


360  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

doubts  of  ever  reaching  Taragal.  The  elderly  man  and  the 
woman  jockeyed  around  until  they  got  behind,  and  I  heard  the 
woman  suggest  to  the  man  to  hit  me  on  the  neck,  to  which  he 
replied  that  I  did  not  give  him  the  chance. 

"Later  on  in  the  day  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them 
held  up  by  three  men,  and  in  the  confusion  I  succeeded  in  get- 
ting past,  though  I  soon  heard  hoofs  clattering  after  me,  which 
influenced  me  to  spur  my  mule  to  full  speed. 

"I  passed  a  band  of  Matoca  Indians,  who  had  that  morning 
murdered  two  travelers.  Beneath  a  tree  I  saw  the  body  of  a 
poor  fellow  whose  throat  had  been  cut.  The  birds  were  al- 
ready feeding  on  him.  I  was  glad  to  give  up  the  object  of  my 
trip  into  that  section,  and  considered  myself  fortunate  in  get- 
ting out  of  it." 

Evidently  that  section  of  the  country  toward  which  we  were 
journeying  was  one  of  adventure  and  hair-raising  experiences. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
ARGENTINA'S  VINEYARDS  AND  TOWNS. 

IT  IS  as  far  west  from  Santa  Fe  to  Tucuman,  Argentina,  as 
it  is  from  Chicago  to  Bismarck,  N.  D.,  yet  it  took  us  less 
time  to  make  this  trip  on  the  Argentine  Central  Railroad  (a 
splendid  system)  than  it  takes  to  make  the  journey  from  Chi- 
cago to  Bismarck. 

Leaving  Santa  Fe  in  the  morning  we  traveled  all  day 
through  prairie  country,  just  like  our  own  West,  and  it  made 
me  homesick.  At  the  time  we  made  this  trip  it  was  early 
winter  in  Argentina  and  spring  in  the  United  States.  Oh, 
how  I  missed  the  springtime,  when  everything  is  budding  out 
into  new  life!  And  that  is  one  of  the  joys  that  is  never  ex- 
perienced in  Argentina;  they  do  not  have  springs  or  falls  in 
South  America,  only  summers  and  winters! 

Arriving  in  Tucuman  in  the  morning,  we  could  not  see 
out  of  our  car  windows  for  the  dust.  We  had  passed  through 
the  poor,  dry  part  of  the  country  at  night,  and  the  windows 
of  our  car  were  "frosted"  from  the  accumulated  dust  gath- 
ered during  our  journey. 

Before  I  was  dressed  Charlie  came  rushing  into  my  room 
and  excitedly  exclaimed :  "Fo'  de  Lord's  sake,  Mistah  Boyce, 
dey  done  jus'  shot  up  everybody  in  de  station !  Git  yo'  gun !" 

There  was  indeed  great  excitement,  for  two  men  lay  dead 
in  the  ticket  office,  all  the  cash  not  locked  in  the  safe  was  gone, 
and  soldiers  and  police  were  everywhere.  Four  weeks  later 
I  heard  that  they  had  not  captured  the  bandits,  who  in  mak- 
ing their  raid  did  not  even  give  the  poor  ticket  agents  a  chance 
to  hold  up  their  hands,  but  shot  them  in  the  back.  They  also 
took  several  shots  at  the  division  superintendent,  Mr.  S.  T. 
Harris-Smith,  but  he  was  some  distance  from  them  and  es- 
caped. His  wife,  a  brave  United  States  woman,  ran  upstairs 
and  got  his  gun  for  him,  but  the  robbers  and  murderers  had 


ARGENTINA 


363 


made  good  their  escape  before  she  returned  with  the  weapon. 

The  incident  served  to  recall  the  experience  of  a  newspaper 
man  in  the  region  north  of  this  section  (which  I  related  in  a 
previous  chapter)  and  it  put  us  all  on  the  watch  for  trouble 
when  we  started  on  our  horseback  trip  into  the  wilds  north  of 
here. 

That  we  did  not  come  into  open  conflict  with  some  of  the 
brigands  along  our  route  is  perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that  we 
were  all  well  armed  and  had  an  escort  that  was  perfectly 
reliable.  However,  I  am  inclined  to  say  that  what  this  sec- 
tion needs  is,  perhaps,  five  hundred  Texas  rangers  for  a  year 
or  so,  then  robbery  and  murder  would  become  less  common. 

Tucuman  is  the  Philadelphia  of  Argentina — it  was  here 
on  July  9,  1816,  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
signed.  The  little  old  house,  desk  and  other  furniture  made 
famous  by  this  historic  event  are  all  in  an  excellent  state  of 
preservation,  for  ex-President  General  Roca  was  born  near 
this  city,  and  he  wisely  had  the  little  old  "Independence  Hall" 
enclosed  in  a  magnificent  steel  and  concrete  building,  and  made 
a  trust  fund  for  its  maintenance. 


INTERIOR  OF  INDEPENDENCE   HALL,  TUCUMAN.   ARGENTINA. 


3°4 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


The  employes  looking  after  the  property  will  not  accept  a 
tip  from  sightseers,  being  well  paid  for  their  services.  The 
Argentinian  man  and  woman  (not  the  foreigner)  as  a  rule 
refuse  tips.  A  small  boy  who  carried  my  satchel  from  the 
omnibus  to  the  hotel  office  refused  a  tip,  with  the  added 
expression,  "My  boss  pays  me."  He  must  have  been  a  Boy 
Scout. 

Tucuman  is  the  center  of  the  sugar-cane  section  of  Argen- 
tina, and  the  entire  country  about  is  dotted  with  cane  mills. 


INTERIOR  VIEW    OF    SUGAR   REFINERY,    TUCUMAN,    ARGENTINA. 

The  Central  Railroad  hooked  my  car  to  an  engine  and  ran  me 
around  a  whole  day  through  cane  plantations. 

Owing  to  the  protective  tariff  on  sugar — about  eight  cents 
a  pound — this  business  is  extremely  profitable,  and  Tucuman 
is  very  prosperous  as  a  result.  The  city  is  the  capital  of  the 
province  of  Tucuman,  and  its  public  buildings,  beautiful 
parks,  well-paved  streets,  finely-stocked  stores,  and  well-fed 
and  neatly-clothed  people,  impress  the  tourist,  making  the  rob- 


ARGENTINA 


365 


beries  and  lawless  conditions  that  prevail  in  the  outlying  re- 
gions stand  out  in  still  more  glaring  manner. 

Tucuman  is  also  a  winter  resort  for  this  part  of  Argentina, 
and  naturally  it  is  a  gay  town  and  quite  up-to-date.  They 
were  just  finishing  a  new  hotel,  theater  and  casino  (gambling 
house)  at  a  cost  of  $1,000,000,  when  I  was  there.  They  were 
also  developing  a  big  hydro-electric  plant  thirty  miles  from 
the  city.  The  "head"  or  fall  is  525  feet  and  it  will  bring 
15,000  horse-power  to  the  city.  The  entire  country  about 


THE  RIVERA  INDARTE  THEATER,   CORDOVA,   ARGENTINA. 


Tucuman  depends  on  irrigation,  as  it  snuggles  up  close  to  the 
base  of  the  dry  Andes  Mountains.  Coal  is  eleven  dollars  and 
a  half  per  ton. 

Going  from  Tucuman  to  Cordova,  the  third  city  of  im- 
portance in  the  interior  of  Argentina,  we  had  to  run  east  to 
Rosario  and  then  west  again,  covering  about  1,000  miles,  and 
most  of  the  journey  is  through  a  very  dry  country.  Irriga- 
tion is  necessary,  and  there  are  large  areas  for  which  there  is 
no  water. 


THE  BANK  OF   CORDOVA,  ARGENTINA. 


ARGENTINA 


367 


Cordova  is  located  near  a  river  which  has  its  source  in  the 
Sierra  Mountains,  and  so  precious  is  the  water  of  this  stream 
that  it  is  first  stored  and  used  to  furnish  power  and  light,  after 
which  it  is  turned  into  the  irrigation  ditches.  Everything 
grows  where  irrigation  is  applied.  The  Government  has  an 
experiment  agricultural  farm  at  this  point,  but  its  instruction 
must  be  along  "dry"  farming  lines,  as  we  could  scarcely  see 
the  farm  for  the  dust  when  we  were  there. 

J.  G.  White  &  Company  of  New  York,  the  largest  electrical 
engineering  firm  in  the  United  States,  built  a  hydro-electric 
power  plant  near  here,  but  they  must  have  had  wrong  figures 
as  to  the  amount  of  water  available,  or  the  local  company 
had  more  money  than  it  knew  what  to  do  with,  as  there  are 
twice  as  many  water  wheels  and  generators  as  there  is  water 
to  supply  power.  This  company  is  now  building  another  plant 
farther  down  the  river,  in  order  to  use  the  water  over  again. 

There  is  an  astronomical  observatory  near  Cordova,  in 
charge  of  which  are  three  homesick  people  from  the  United 
States.  Next  to  taking  care  of  a  lighthouse  this  must  be  the 
most  lonesome  job  in  the  world.  Cordova  also  boasts  of  a 


A  VEGETABLE   MARKET,   CORDOVA,   ARGENTINA. 


368 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


very  old  university,  which  was  established  in  1613  or  1316.  I 
do  not  remember  the  date,  but  it  reminds  me  of  the  story  of 
the  small  boy  who  was  asked  when  his  father  was  born,  and 
he  replied  that,  "It  was  in  1418  or  1814 — blamed  if  I  can  re- 
member which !" 

I  motored  from  Cordova  to  Alta  Gracia,  about  thirty-five 
miles.  Alta  Gracia  has  the  reputation  of  being  located  where 
the  air  is  so  pure  that  all  cases  of  consumption  are  cured.  The 
statement  comes  very  nearly  being  true,  and  as  a  result  it  is 
well  patronized  by  persons  with  tubercular  troubles.  Cordova 
has  75,000  population,  and  except  for  the  dust  and  lack  of 
water  would  be  a  fine  city. 

From  Cordova  I  returned  to  Buenos  Aires  and  made  a 
new  start.  I  was  sorry  to  bid  good-by  to  the  Argentine  Cen- 
tral Railroad,  for  it  is  a  splendid  system  and  is  well  kept  up,  as 
are  all  English-owned  and  operated  railways. 

The  most  important  city  in  Argentina,  not  having  water 
transportation,  is  Mendoza,  the  center  of  the  grape  and  wine 
industry.  I  left  Buenos  Aires  one  afternoon,  arriving  at  Men- 
doza twenty-four  hours  afterward,  a  distance  of  700  miles  to 


VIEW   OF   VINEYARDS  AND! 


ARGENTINA 


369 


the  west.  This  is  the  end  of  the  wide-gauge  railroad;  here 
one  changes  cars  for  the  Trans-Andean  Railroad,  which  goes 
through  a  tunnel  in  the  Andes  Mountains  and  lands  one  in 
Chile,  saving  a  two  weeks'  trip  down  one  side  of  South 
America  and  up  the  other.  Unless  the  South  American  tour- 
ist has  plenty  of  time  and  money,  or  is  after  information  for 
a  book  or  newspaper  articles,  as  I  was,  he  cannot  afford  to 
take  the  risk  and  go  through  the  hardships  of  a  trip  around 
the  southern  end  of  South  America  through  the  Straits  of 
Magellan.  The  scenery  from  Mendoza  to  the  tunnel  is  the 
finest  in  Argentina,  and  the  person  who  makes  the  journey  is 
well  paid. 

The  Government  owns  the  irrigation  plant  at  Mendoza, 
and  in  the  vicinity  there  are  100,000  acres  in  vines.  The 
French  grapes  were  introduced  twenty  years  ago  and  the  wine 
made  equals  the  French  claret  and  sauterne. 

It  is  said  that  seventy  per  cent  of  the  water  in  the  irrigating 
ditches  sinks  into  the  bottom  of  the  ditches,  and  that  as  a 
result  water  is  scarce.  If  the  bottoms  of  the  ditches  were 


|\   INERIES   NEAR   MENDOZA,   ARGENTINA. 
24 


3/0  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


THE  RUINS  OF  A  CHURCH  DESTROYED  BY  EARTHQUAKE, 
MENDOZA,   ARGENTINA. 

concreted  they  could  plant  200,000  more  acres  in  vines.  Ob- 
viously this  should  be  done,  as  it  never  rains  in  this  region. 

Mendoza  is  subject  to  earthquakes,  and  fifty  years  ago 
every  building  in  the  city  was  shaken  down,  10,000  lives  hav- 
ing been  lost.  The  city  is  quite  a  bustling  place,  as  an  evi- 
dence of  which  eighty  passenger  trains  arrive  and  depart  each 
day,  though  most  of  these  make  but  short  trips — not  unlike 
our  own  suburban  trains. 

The  vineyards  support  an  immense  population,  50,000  peo- 
ple living  in  Mendoza,  and  the  country  districts  are  thickly 
populated.  During  the  grape-gathering  season  two  solid 
trains  loaded  with  grapes  are  shipped  daily  to  Buenos  Aires, 
besides  2,000,000  casks  of  wine  (forty-two  gallons  to  the  cask) 
are  made  annually  in  this  region. 

San  Juan,  with  a  population  of  20,000  and  lying  fifty  miles 
north  of  Mendoza,  is  the  capital  of  a  province  bearing  the 
same  name.  San  Juan  is  nearly  three  hundred  years  old,  and 
I  had  expected  to  find  it  a  very  interesting  place,  but  was  dis- 
appointed. It  is  as  dry  as  the  country  about  Mendoza,  noth- 


ARGENTINA 


A  STREET  ROLLER,   SAN   JUAN,  ARGENTINA. 

ing  being  raised  except  with  the  aid  of  irrigation.  Grapes  do 
well,  and  judging  from  the  number  of  children  that  followed 
us  about  while  we  were  photographing,  large  families  must 
be  the  rule. 

The  provincial  government  of  San  Juan  was  in  a  bad  way 
financially,  a  defalcation  of  $3,000,000  gold  recently  having 
occurred.  As  a  result  the  national  Government  had  appointed 
a  Governor  and  taken  control  in  accordance  with  the  Argen- 
tinian plan  of  intervention. 

San  Luis,  the  capital  of  another  province,  two  hundred 
miles  east  of  San  Juan,  was  reached  one  night  by  attaching 
our  car  to  a  freight  train.  This  province  was  also  in  trouble, 


A  MILKMAN  AT  SAN   JUAN,  ARGENTINA. 


MR.    BOYCE,     HIS    SECRETARY,    MR.    GULICK,    AND    HIS    SERVANT, 
CHARLIE,  IN  A  COOPER  SHOP  IN  SAN  JUAN,  ARGENTINA. 


RURAL  SCENE  NEAR  SAN  LUIS,  ARGENTINA. 


374 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


caused  by  the  dishonesty  of  trusted  officials,  and  the  national 
Government  had  intervened,  as  in  San  Juan. 

The  principal  occupation  of  the  people  of  this  region 
seemed  to  consist  of  digging  the  roots  of  a  small  tree  or  bush 
that  grows  in  this  dry  soil,  and  selling  the  roots  for  firewood. 
A  low  range  of  mountains  runs  through  the  province  and 
there  are  a  few  streams,  along  which  it  is  possible  to  raise  a 
limited  number  of  cattle.  The  population  of  the  town  of  San 
Luis  is  10,000,  and  the  largest  thing  there  is  the  railroad  sta- 
tion. 

One  evening,  about  seven  o'clock,  my  car  was  attached  at 
San  Luis  to  the  through  passenger  train  for  Buenos  Aires, 
and  the  next  morning,  at  six  o'clock,  the  "beauty  sleep"  of 
everybody  on  the  train  was  suddenly  interrupted  by  a  crash 
and  bump  that  pitched  us  from  our  berths  to  the  floor. 

There  was  a  moment's  lull  just  after  the  crash,  during 
which  we  rubbed  our  bruises,  then  I  heard  Charlie,  my  serv- 
ant, yelling:  "We're  all  right!  We're  on  de  track!"  To 
which  I  replied  that  he  was  mistaken,  so  far  as  I  was  con- 
cerned, as  I  was  not  on  the  track,  but  on  the  floor. 

We  dressed  and  got  out  to  see  just  what  damage  had  been 


THE  ENGINE  OF  MR.   BOYCE  S  TRAIN   WITH   ITS  NOSE  IN  A 
FREIGHT   CAR  AT  ALBERDI. 


ARGENTINA 


375 


LIFTING   THE   WRECKED   CAR   FROM    THE   TRACK. 

done,  and  ascertain  if  our  services  were  needed  in  caring  for 
the  injured,  but  fortunately  the  wreck  was  not  that  serious. 
Investigation  revealed  that  our  engineer  must  have  gone  to 
sleep,  for  on  the  dead  level,  where  he  could  see  straight  ahead 
for  five  miles  (it  being  daylight),  he  had  run  into  a  freight 
train  and  jammed  two  freight  cars  into  one  and  put  his  engine 
into  the  center  of  the  two  cars. 

It  took  six  hours  to  get  a  wrecking  train  and  four  hours  to 
clear  the  track — and  I  lost  a  day.  Had  it  been  our  train  that 
was  run  into,  my  car  being  the  last,  there  probably  would 
have  been  a  funeral  with  myself  in  the  first  "buggy"  behind 
the  pallbearers.  However,  we  secured  some  good  photographs 
of  a  wreck,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  an  interesting  ranch- 
man who  beats  the  railroads  by  not  using  them. 

This  man  has  a  chain  of  ranches  extending  from  this  point 
to  Buenos  Aires,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant.  These 
ranches  lie  about  twenty  miles  apart  and  he  drives  his  cattle 
to  market,  fattening  them  on  the  way.  He  is  the  largest  ranch- 


376  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMEFJCA 

owner  in  Argentina,  having  over  300,000  acres  of  land,  all 
fenced  and  under  cultivation  or  in  alfalfa.  The  railroad  peo- 
ple complain  of  this  unfair  competition,  which  strikes  one  as 
being  rather  humorous. 

It  is  impossible  for  any  country  to  develop  its  natural 
resources  without  adequate  transportation  facilities.  This  is 
what  Argentina  possesses.  Her  splendid  railroads,  big  rivers 
and  ocean  frontage  afford  better  and  cheaper  facilities  for 
moving  her  products  than  exist  in  any  country  in  South  or 
North  America.  This  accounts  for  her  prosperity  and  the 
stability  of  her  Government. 

The  country  with  the  most  revolutions  is  the  one  where  it 
is  most  difficult  to  dispatch  troops  quickly.  Argentina,  with  a 
population  of  nearly  7,500,000  has  15,000  miles  of  railroads,  or 
more  in  proportion  to  her  population  than  the  United  States. 

The  standard  gauge  of  the  railroads  of  the  United  States 
and  Europe  (except  Russia)  is  four  feet  eight  and  one-half 
inches.  In  Argentina  the  standard  gauge  is  five  feet  six 
inches,  and  as  the  railroads  are  owned  principally  by  English 
capitalists,  you  will  wonder  why  this  is  so. 

The  standard  gauge  in  Russia  is  five  feet  six  inches,  the 
same  as  in  Argentina,  and  it  is  owing  to  this  fact  that  the  rail- 
roads of  this  republic  have  the  same  gauge.  Again  you  will 
wonder  why.  It  is  the  old  story:  "As  the  twig  is  bent  the 
tree's  inclined." 

At  the  close  of  the  Crimean  War  in  Russia  in  1854,  Eng- 
land found  that  she  possessed  some  cars  and  locomotives  in 
the  Black  Sea  region  that  did  not  fit  the  gauge  of  the  railroads 
at  home,  so  some  speculators  bought  them  cheap  and  started 
the  first  railroad  in  Argentina.  As  more  cars  and  locomotives 
were  needed  they  were  bought  to  fit  the  rails  already  laid,  and 
the  little  road  became  a  great  system,  still  using  the  five-foot 
six-inch  gauge.  Thus,  as  "the  twig  was  bent  the  tree  inclined." 

When  Spain  controlled  all  of  South  America,  except  Bra- 
zil, she  established  Lima,  Peru,  as  the  seat  of  government,  be- 
cause it  was  near  the  great  source  of  gold  and  silver.  She 
gave  to  a  "merchant  trust"  located  in  Cadiz,  Spain,  the  right 
to  sell  all  the  goods  shipped  to  South  America,  and  for  three 


ARGENTINA  377 

hundred  years  all  merchandise  shipped  to,  or  products  sent 
out  of  South  America,  were  forced  to  follow  one  route. 

Take  your,  map,  please,  and  follow  me:  From  Spain  to 
Panama,  across  the  Isthmus,  down  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  Peru, 
then  by  llama,  burro  and  the  human  back,  via  Lake  Titicaca 
and  La  Paz,  Bolivia,  down  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Andes,  and 
through  Argentina  to  Cordova,  where  forty  per  cent  additional 
duty  was  added,  when  the  goods  were  allowed  to  be  distributed 
to  Paraguay,  Buenos  Aires  and  Uruguay. 

The  freight,  shrinkage,  theft  and  losses  added  1,000  per 
cent  to  the  cost  when  the  goods  were  received  by  the  ultimate 
consumer,  and  imported  luxuries  were  necessarily  very  dear. 
Under  these  conditions  smuggling  became  a  thriving  and 
profitable  business  all  along  the  coast.  Do  you  wonder  that 
Spain  lost  South  America  in  thus  attempting  to  protect  a 
"trust"  ?  There  is  a  good  lesson  in  this. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


ARGENTINA  S  AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTS. 

IN  CONSIDERING  how  Americans  could  make  money  in 
this  country,  the  opening  I  have  in  mind,  and  it  is  a  big  one, 
is  the  raising  of  pigs  for  breeders  as  well  as  for  meat.  The 
Argentinians  are  fifty  years  behind  the  times  on  pork  raising, 
ic  farm  laborers  being  nearly  all  foreigners  accounts  for 
there  being  so  few  small  farms.  The  big  ranches  do  not  run 
stores,  with  "booze"  as  the  principal  stock,  as  do  the  rancheros 
of  Chile.  This  tends  to  sobriety. 

If  Argentina  had  sufficient  farmers  she  would  soon  become 
the  food-producing  country  of  the  world,  as  there  are  80,000,- 

ooo  acres  in  the  republic 
that  will  raise  wheat  and 
nearly  everything  in  cereals 
and  flax.  I  will  give  you 
the  figures  for  the  acres  in 
crop  for  1911-12:  Wheat, 
17,  412,500  acres ;  206,800,- 
ooo  bushels.  Corn,  7,700,- 
ooo  acres;  308,000,000 
bushels.  Oats,  2,250,000 
acres;  55,950,000  bushels. 
Flaxseed,  3,837,500  acres;. 
2,440,000,000  pounds.  Add 
2,500,000  acres  for  every- 
thing else  grown,  and  you 
have  33,700,000  acres  in 
crop,  or  but  a  little  more 
than  three-eighths,  only 
about  forty-two  per  cent, 
of  the  possible  area  under 
cultivation. 

AN    ALFALFA    STACKER   AT    WORK 
ON  AN  ARGENTINIAN  RANCH. 

378 


ARGENTINA 


379 


And  yet   the  Argentinian   crops 

are  at  the  present  time  regulating 

the  prices  of  grain  and  cattle  for 

the  world.     What  will  it  be  when 

this  country  is  developed  up  to  a 

point  equal  to  the  older  countries? 

Stop  and  think ! 

The  United  States  holds  the  posi- 
tion of  being  the  greatest  wheat- 
producing  country  in  the  world — 

700,000,000  bushels,   with  93,000,- 

ooo  people,  while  Argentina,  with 

less  than  7,000,000  population, 

holds  the  fifth  place.     Hence,  you 

observe,  that  with  eight  per  cent  as 

large   a    population   our    Southern 

rival    produces    wheat    in    amount 

equal  to  about  thirty  per  cent  of 

what  the  United   States  produces. 

Argentina  also  produces  corn  and 

other  products  in  proportion 

There  is  certainly  going  to  be  no 

shortage  of  food  in  the  world  for 
the   next   century.      The   price   of 

food  will  depend  upon  the  amount 

of  money  in  circulation.  If  there  was  only  one  gold  dollar 
in  the  world  you  could  buy  everything  for  that  one  dollar ; 
hence,  if  there  is  one  hundred  billion  gold  dollars  prices  will 
be  one  hundred  billion  times  higher  than  if  there  was  only  one 
dollar.  We  need  not  worry  about  prices,  only  quantity  and 
quality  need  disturb  us. 

Thirty  years  ago,  when  the  rush  was  on  for  the  wheat 
lands  in  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Manitoba  and  the  great  North- 
west, the  cry  was  "Wheat!  Wheat!"  My  dear  old  friend, 
T.  W.  Teasdale  was  then,  as  now,  general  passenger  agent 
of  the  C,  St.  P.,  M.  &  O.  Railway.  His  railroad  served 
northern  Iowa,  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  where  corn  was  the 
chief  crop.  His  passenger  business  was  falling  off,  for  every- 
body was  headed  for  the  wheat  land. 


TYPE  OF  YOUNG  WORK- 
MAN, ARGENTINA. 


380  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Every  homeseeker  going  to  the  Northwest  passed  through 
St.  Paul  and  changed  cars  there,  and  as  they  always  took  a 
walk  around  while  waiting  for  a  train  out,  Mr.  Teasdale 
hung  out  a  huge  banner  near  the  St.  Paul  station,  on  which 
was  inscribed  in  letters  that  could  be  read  a  long  distance  this 
warning:  "He  who  goes  where  Indian  corn  won't  grow  is  a 
long  way  from  home." 

The  tired  farmer,  cramped  up  in  a  homeseeker's  coach 
for  several  days  and  nights,  with  his  stomach  bad  from  eat- 
ing cold  lunches  (put  up  at  home)  and  about  ready  to  go 
back  anyhow,  was  immediately  impressed  by  this  sign,  and 
many  went  Southwest  to  find  new  homes  where  Indian  corn 
as  well  as  wheat  would  grow.  Also,  Teasdale  saved  a  share 
of  the  traffic  for  his  road. 

Argentina  has  long  been  known  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  as  a  wheat  country,  but  it  is  also  a  corn  country.  More 
corn  is  exported  from  Argentina  than  from  the  United  States. 
This  is  true,  largely,  because  the  cattle  are  fattened  on  alfalfa 
and  not  on  corn. 

The  soil  is  a  black  vegetable  loam,  and  in  many  sections 
mixed  with  sand.  The  sand  lets  the  air  down  to  the  roots  of 
the  alfalfa,  which  find  water  from  five  to  fifteen  feet  deep. 
There  is  a  larger  percentage  of  arable  soil  in  Argentina  suita- 
ble for  the  growing  of  alfalfa  than  in  any  other  country  in 
the  world. 

The  process  of  getting  the  alfalfa  started  is  this:  The 
owner  of  the  land  rents  the  raw  land  to  a  farmer,  furnishing 
the  seed,  for  a  small  percentage  of  the  crop.  The  land  is 
broken  up,  one,  two  or  three  crops  of  wheat  or  grain  of  some 
kind  are  taken  off,  then  it  is  sown  to  alfalfa.  The  ranchmen  who 
own  the  land  are  not  the  farmers,  the  latter  being  mostly  foreign- 
ers, who  are  just  getting  a  start  in  this  country.  They  usually 
own  a  few  horses,  plows  and  farm  machinery,  but  no  land. 

The  land  is  not  farmed  as  well  as  it  would  be  if  the  owners 
were  cropping  it;  this  is  shown  by  the  average  per  acre.  In 
the  United  States  wheat  averages  thirteen  bushels  to  the  acre  ; 
here  only  ten.  The  thirty  per  cent  greater  yield  we  produce 
simply  means  thirty  per  cent  better  farming.  In  England  the 
wheat  yield  is  thirty-one  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  I  believe 


ARGENTINA  381 

that  in  ten  years  from  now  the  average  yield  in  the  United 
States  will  be  twenty.  This  will  be  equal  to  nearly  doubling 
our  acreage. 

Only  one-half  of  the  earth's  surface,  not  covered  with 
water,  will  produce  anything  on  which  man  or  beast  can  live, 
and  only  one-half  of  that  is  now  occupied  or  used,  and  this 
land  is  only  worked  to  about  fifty  per  cent  of  its  capacity.  So, 
you  see,  there  is  still  room  for  four  times  the  population  old 
Mother  Earth  now  supports  without  crowding. 

In  Argentina,  as  is  most  new  countries,  when  breaking  up 
the  sod  for  the  first  time,  much  of  it  is  sown  to  flax,  and  at 
the  present  price  the  first  crop  frequently  equals  the  value  of 
the  land.  Oats  sown  in  the  fall  come  up  quickly,  and,  on  ac- 
count of  the  mild  winters,  afford  splendid  pasturage  for  cattle 
for  several  months  without  injury  to  the  crop,  which  is  cut 
before  wheat.  No  spring  grain  crops  are  sown,  and  while  our 
winter-sown  crops  take  about  nine  months  to  mature,  all  crops 
ripen  here  in  six  months  after  the  seed  is  put  in  the  ground. 

There  are  just  as  many  different  prices  for  grain  lands  as 
there  are  grades,  distance  from  market,  improvements  and 
other  conditions  considered.  Good  wheat  land  within  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  of  Buenos  Aires,  or  one  hundred  miles 
from  a  port  and  near  a  railroad,  can  be  bought  for  from  eight  to 
twenty  dollars  per  acre ;  wild,  unimproved  lands  bring  from 
two  to  five  dollars  per  acre. 

I  saw  a  farm  of  four  thousand  acres  near  the  city  of 
Buenos  Aires,  that  was  held  at  $180  per  acre.  It  had  splendid 
improvements  and  part  of  it  was  in  alfalfa.  It  earns  twelve 
per  cent  on  the  investment.  Money  is  not  considered  well 
placed  here  unless  it  brings  ten  per  cent  net.  However,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  only  the  eastern  half  of  Argentina  is 
suitable  for  grain ;  the  western  half  is  dry  like  parts  of  Arizona, 
New  Mexico  and  California. 

Near  the  mountains,  where  the  snow  forms  little  rivers 
that  are  used  for  irrigating  the  land,  everything  grows  abun- 
dantly, especially  grapes.  All  the  land  onto  which  water 
can  be  got  has  been  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation  for  more 
than  one  hundred  years,  and  a  good  vineyard  is  worth  thou- 
sands of  dollars  an  acre. 


382 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


In  investigating  the  matter  of  farm  machinery  I  found  that 
less  of  it  had  been  made  in  the  United  States  than  I  had  ex- 
pected. The  general  complaint  about  our  farm  machinery  is  that 
it  is  too  light  and  will  not  last.  English  makes  are  preferred, 
especially  those  designed  for  use  in  the  English  colonies,  like 
Australia  and  Canada.  One  English  thrashing  machine  will  last 
as  long  as  two  from  the  United  States.  However,  I  found 
that  the  American-made  windmills  were  favored  and  preferred 
on  account  of  their  strength  and  durability.  The  "Champion" 
road  grader  from  the  United  States  is  in  general  use. 

I  think  I  have  a  surprise  for  those  readers  who  are  at  all 
interested  in  farming;  it  was  a  surprise  to  me.  In  Argentina 


CROPPERS  AT   WORK   IN   A   WHEAT   FIELD,   ARGENTINA. 

they  cut,  thrash  and  sack  their  grain  for  five  per  cent  of  the 
value  of  the  crop,  while  in  the  United  States  it  takes  at  least 
fifteen  per  cent.  This  interested  me  more  than  any  other  one 
economic  subject  in  the  country. 

About  four  years  ago  there  was  introduced  from  Australia 
a  harvesting  machine  and  thrasher  combined  that  requires 
only  three  men  at  the  most  to  operate,  and  from  four  to  six 
horses.  It  skins  the  grain  out  of  the  heads  of  the  standing 
wheat,  blows  the  chaff  away  and  deposits  the  grain  in  sacks 
beside  the  machine  as  it  moves  along.  It  is  called  a  "cropper." 
One  machine  will  average  ten  acres  a  day,  and  costs  seven 
hundred  dollars  delivered/ 


ARGENTINA  383 

When  the  machines  were  first  introduced  they  had  not 
been  perfected  and  were  practically  failures.  Two  years  ago 
the  makers  (there  are  four  makes  and  no  monopoly)  came 
back  into  the  market  again,  and  ever  since  the  machines  have 
worked  so  well  that  I  did  not  hear  of  a  thrashing  machine  or 
engine  or  other  harvesting  machine  being  sold  since. 

On  one  large  farm,  with  thousands  of  acres  under  the 
plow,  I  found  eighty  "croppers."  I  saw  the  books  that  were 
kept  on  several  large  estates,  and  they  all  claimed  they  could 
not  be  induced  to  use  any  other  harvesting  machine,  and  that 
five  per  cent  of  value  of  crop  is  correct  as  to  cost  from  standing 
grain  to  sack.  I  inquired  if  there  was  not  considerable  loss  of 
grain  that  never  reached  the  sack,  and  they  stated  that  the  loss 
was  no  more  than  in  cutting,  binding,  stacking  and  thrashing. 
The  more  operations,  of  course,  the  more  chances  of  loss. 

They  had  trouble  with  weeds  and  thistles  gathering  on 
the  teeth  that  skin  the  grain  from  the  heads  of  wheat  until 
a  rake,  worked  by  the  man  on  the  machine,  was  perfected  in 
Argentina  to  overcome  that  defect.  This  improvement  has 
been  adopted  by  the  manufacturers. 

Just  think  of  saving  thrashing,  twine,  stacking,  teaming 
and  delays,  to  say  nothing  about  extra  labor !  Three  men  can 
crop  two  to  three  hundred  acres  easily.  Another  saving 
claimed  for  this  method  is  that  there  is  no  broken  grain,  as  in 
thrashing.  Of  course  the  straw  is  left  standing  and  cattle  are 
turned  in  on  it  to  get  the  benefit  of  this  sort  of  grazing.  When 
the  remaining  straw  is  trampled  down  it  is  plowed  back  into 
the  ground. 

The  machine  described  can  be  used  in  a  heavy  wind  and 
be  effective  on  short  straw,  but  not  on  "down"  grain.  It  is 
effective  with  ninety  per  cent  of  all  wheat,  oats  and  barley, 
but  is  useless  on  flax. 

The  harvesting  months  in  Argentina  are  December  and 
January,  and  it  would  pay  American  farmers  to  club  together 
and  send  a  man  to  this  country  to  look  over  the  way  they 
do  things.  The  farmer  here  has  one  disadvantage — he  is 
only  a  temporary  tenant,  moving  on,  as  heretofore  explained, 
every  few  years.  Having  little  or  no  capital,  he  borrows  from 
some  of  the  Jewish  banking  houses  in  Buenos  Aires,  which 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


take  his  growing  crop  as  security,  and  when  the  wheat  is  in 
sack,  set  the  price.  There  are  no  local  elevators  to  which  the 
farmer  can  take  his  grain  and  get  the  cash,  so  he  is  at  the 
mercy  of  the  aforesaid  Shylocks,  who  greedily  "squeeze  the 
life  out  of  him." 

All  grains  are  moved  to  the  ports  for  export  in  sacks, 
which  is  a  big  expense  to  the  producer.  Freight  rates  are 
reasonable,  and  the  haul  by  rail,  mostly  in  open  "flat"  cars, 
is  never  over  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  market  at  a  sea- 
port. The  rich  men  of  the  country  are  the  cattlemen,  and  their 
ambition  is  to  get  their  land  holdings  into  alfalfa  or  tame 
grass,  and  they  do  not  want  to  sell  the  land. 


BROOD  MARES  ON  AN  ARGENTINIAN  RANCH. 

Despite  the  occasional  lack  of  rain  the  potato,  root  and  fruit 
crops  are  usually  abundant,  and  they  raise  two  crops  a  year  of 
potatoes  and  many  other  vegetables.  A  country  does  not  suffer 
the  extremes  of  hard  times  when  it  has  a  big  potato  crop,  for, 
next  to  wheat,  the  potato  furnishes  more  food  for  man  than 
any  one  other  product  of  the  earth. 

During  the  Spanish-American  War  I  recall  that  I  was  on 
my  dispatch  boat,  the  old  filibustering  yacht  Three  Friends, 
about  four  miles  out  of  Havana,  two  days  after  the  battle  of 
Manila.  About  dusk  the  Machias,  a  United  States  gunboat, 


ARGENTINA 


385 


A  PERCHERON   STALLION  ON  AN 
ARGENTINIAN  RANCH. 

coming  up  from  the  coast  of  Yucatan  bound  for  Key  West 
to  coal,  sighted  us  and  sent  a  small  boat  to  see  who  we  were. 
During  the  day  another  vessel  had  wigwagged  to  them  that 
there  had  been  a  battle  at  Manila,  and  when  the  small  boat 
reached  our  side  the  boatswain  cried  out : 

"Have  you  any  word  from  Manila,  or  any  potatoes?  We 
have  had  no  potatoes  for  two  weeks?" 

So  you  see  that  potatoes  are  sometimes  considered  as  impor- 
tant as  great  battles. 


25 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

RACIAL  TYPES  AND  INDUSTRIES. 

people  of  Argentina  may  be  easily  divided,  so  far  as 
J_  race  is  concerned,  into  four  classes — pure  Latin,  Latin 
mixed  with  some  other  race,  some  other  race  without  Latin,  and 
the  criollo.  The  latter  element  furnishes  the  picturesque  part 
of  the  population.  This  division  is,  of  course,  without  reck- 
oning the  aboriginal  Indians,  of  which  there  are  many  varie- 
ties— most  of  them  decidedly  far  from  picturesque. 

Naturally  the  Latins  predominate,  and  all  languages  intro- 
duced into  the  country  gradually  disappear  into  the  Spanish, 
the  original  tongue  disappearing  altogether  with  the  third  gen- 
eration. There  are  but  few  exceptions  to  this  rule,  and  there 
are  even  English  and  American  descendants  in  large  numbers 


A  MIDDLE  CLASS  FAMILY,  ARGENTINA. 

386 


ARGENTINA  387 

who  speak  nothing  but  Spanish,  unless  they  have  purposely 
studied  English  as  a  foreign  language. 

The  representative  of  the  third  generation  of  Argentin- 
ians is  of  a  distinctly  different  type  from  either  his  Spanish  or 
Italian  forefathers.  He  is  taller,  stronger,  more  industrious 
and  less  polite.  The  strong  hold  which  football  has  taken  on 
the  youth  of  Argentina  is  proof  of  this,  while  cricket  is  played 
only  by  the  recently-arrived  English,  with  but  few  excep- 
tions. 

There  is  little  to  attract  the  attention  in  the  ordinary  male 
inhabitant  of  Buenos  Aires  and  the  smaller  cities  and  towns. 
As  a  rule  he  is  well  clad,  both  as  to  comfort  and  appearance. 
He  is  not  particularly  polite  as  to  the  way  he  makes  his  way 
through  the  narrow,  crowded  streets,  but  he  is  not  offensive 
in  the  way  he  elbows  his  way  along.  He  does  not  resent  it 
if  you  do  the  same  and  hold  your  own,  and  he  would  be  ex- 
tremely surprised  if  you  resented  it. 

Workingmen  in  their  working  clothes,  which  might  soil 
or  incommode  the  ordinary  person,  keep  somewhat  aloof,  and 
at  certain  hours  extra  cars  are  attached  to  the  trams  marked 
obreros  (workingmen),  in  which  they  ride  and  pay  half 
price;  but  they  rode  just  as  freely  in  these  extra  cars  of  their 
own  accord,  when  they  paid  full  fare. 

It  is  not  until  you  get  into  the  country,  where  the  masses 
of  those  who  labor  are  criollos,  that  the  Argentinian  be- 
gins to  attract  your  attention  from  a  spectacular  point  of 
view.  There,  on  the  estancias,  you  come  in  contact  with  the 
gaucho,  the  Argentinian  cowboy,  pure  and  simple.  He  is  a 
cowpuncher  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  but  strikingly  differ- 
ent from  the  cowboy  of  the  bigger  republic  up  North.  He  is 
much  smaller  and  more  compact  in  build;  he  is  of  Latin 
origin,  with  perhaps  a  dash  of  Indian  here  and  there.  Most 
of  them  never  touch  hard  liquor  from  one  year's  end  to 
another,  although  even  the  gaucho  goes  on  an  occasional 
spree.  When  he  does,  he  drinks  cana  (cane  whisky),  and 
most  of  it  is  about  the  most  deadly  drink  one  can  possibly 
imagine.  He  does  not  chew  tobacco,  though  he  smokes  strong 
Italian  cigars,  occasionally  a  pipe,  and  innumerable  cigar- 
ettes. He  is  an  inveterate  gambler,  but  generally  for  small 


388  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

stakes.     He  apparently  likes  chiefly  the  gambling  part  of  it. 

Like  the  North  American  Indian,  the  gaucho  can  and  often 
does  go  many  hours  without  food.  When  he  does  partake  of 
food,  he  eats  inordinately  large  quantities  of  meat,  either  in 
the  form  of  puchero,  a  sort  of  boiled  affair,  with  a  coarse 
vegetable  or  two  thrown  in,  or,  as  somewhat  more  of  a  lux- 
ury, an  asado,  which  is  mutton  or  beef  roasted  in  front  of  a 
campfire. 

A  lamb  is  generally  cooked  whole,  or  in  two  portions. 
When  the  asado  is  ready  each  gaucho  cuts  off  the  portion 
he  wants.  He  knows  no  other  way  of  cooking,  and  often 
goes  for  days  without  bread  with  his  meals.  His  greatest 
mainstay,  however,  is  the  mate — tea  made  from  leaves  of  a 
tree  that  grows  in  Paraguay — which  he  boils  the  first  thing  in 
the  morning,  and  without  which  he  would  be  unfit  for  his 
day's  work.  Having  had  sufficient  of  this  beverage  in  the 
morning,  he  will  go  all  day  without  anything  else  to  drink,  or 
without  food  to  eat. 

Naturally  the  gaucho  is  an  expert  horseman,  for  he  lives 
in  the  saddle.  He  is  also  very  clever  with  the  lasso,  although 
his  lasso  is  very  different  from  that  used  by  the  cowboy  of  the 


M 


A    GAUCHO  S    PONY    AND    SADDLE,    ARGENTINA. 


ARGENTINA  389 

North.  It  is  much  longer  and  heavier  in  every  way.  There 
seem  to  be  yards  too  much  of  it,  and  you  wonder  why  it  does 
not  get  in  his  way ;  but  he  has  his  own  method  of  handling  it, 
and  it  answers  his  purpose. 

It  is  a  debatable  question  as  to  which  is  superior  in  the 
handling  of  a  steer,  the  American  cowboy  or  the  Argentinian 
gaucho.  It  seems  to  be  a  fact,  however,  that  a  single  cowboy 
does  what  it  generally  requires  two  or  three  gauchos  to  ac- 
complish. 

Expert  horseman  that  he  is,  the  gaucho  has  his  own  ideas 
of  riding.  He  does  not  use  the  the  regulation  pommel  sad- 
dle, but  a  recado,  which  is  a  kind  of  semi-rolled-up  stuffed 
sheepskin.  He  uses  this  at  night  on  the  pampa  as  a  pillow, 
while  his  poncho  is  converted  into  a  blanket. 

The  boleadoras,  a  lasso  with  a  ball  attached  to  the  end 
of  it,  which  he  used  to  carry,  is  now  in  a  great  measure  dis- 
carded. It  was  a  clumsy  affair  at  the  best  and  frequently 
blinded  cattle  and  otherwise  injured  them.  But  the  gaucho  is 
always  willing  to  give  you  an  exhibition  of  his  skill  with  the 
boleadoras,  although  he  is  beginning  to  recognize  its  lack  of 
utility. 

His  sole  weapon  of  offense  and  defense  is  the  same  long 
knife  with  which  he  cuts  off  his  chunk  of  asado  while  enjoying 
the  camp  table  d'hote.  He  seldom  or  never  carries  a  revolver. 

This  is  the  gaucho  of  today.  Fifty  years  ago  all  sorts  of 
stories  were  told  of  this  class  of  men.  There  was  one  type 
of  gaucho,  known  as  rastreadors,  who  would  have  filled 
the  Chicago  small  boy's  heart  with  delight.  Rastreador 
means  "tracker,"  and  luckless  indeed  was  the  criminal  who 
had  one  of  these  men  on  his  trail.  He  never  gave  up  the 
chase.  Only  a  few  years  ago,  in  1902,  the  Government  of 
Rioja  actually  employed  ten  rastreadors  to  hunt  down  the 
bands  of  cattle  thieves  that  infested  the  provinces.  It  is  said 
that  they  absolutely  exterminated  them. 

There  is  yet  another  curious  class  of  natives  in  the  coun- 
try, which  is  somewhat  of  a  mystery  to  students  of  races. 
The  men  are  called  chinos,  and  the  women  chinas.  They 
have  straight,  jet-black  hair  and,  although  darker  in  the  face, 
possess  almost  the  exact  features  of  the  Chinese.  There  is 


390  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  same  slanting  slit  of  eye,  same  formation  of  eyebrows, 
and,  not  knowing  the  contrary,  one  would  be  positive  in  iden- 
tifying the  Argentinian  chino  as  a  Mongolian  of  some  sort. 
Most  of  their  blood  originally  must  have  been  Indian,  but 
they  speak  nothing  but  Spanish  and  there  are  now  no  tribes 
of  Indians  that  resemble  them. 

The  men  are  very  active  in  their  movements,  sly,  and 
inclined  to  be  dishonest  in  small  things.  The  young  china 
woman  makes  an  excellent  domestic  servant.  She  is  perhaps 
the  finest  nurse  girl  in  the  world,  and  she  is  extremely  fond 
of  children  and  never  tires  of  attending  to  them. 

All  of  the  criollo  natives,  including  the  gaucho,  are  inordi- 
nately fond  of  music.  They  have  a  music  of  their  own,  which 
has  a  certain  wild  beauty  that  is  very  attractive  to  strangers. 
The  guitar  and  mandolin  are  their  favorite  instruments,  string 
music  appealing  to  the  criollo  more  than  the  reed. 

When  gauchos  become  old,  and  they  have  to  be  very  old 
before  they  cease  to  work,  they  are  generally  taken  care  of 
by  the  estancieros  in  whose  employ  they  have  been.  Often 
they  receive  a  monthly  pension,  and  an  amusing  story  is  told 
of  how  a  lot  of  old,  retired  gauchos  "went  on  a  strike"  for 
higher  pensions  and  won  out.  The  estanciero  was  so  amused 
and  astonished  by  the  "nerve"  and  novelty  of  the  "strike"  that 
he  granted  the  demand. 

Argentina  as  a  manufacturing  nation  can  scarcely  yet  be 
said  to  be  even  in  its  infancy.  The  two  great  necessary  min- 
erals— coal  and  iron — are  still  lacking  as  natural  products. 
Nevertheless,  in  those  branches  of  industry  where  a  deter- 
mined effort  has  been  made,  success  has  attended  the  very 
first  endeavors.  As  a  striking  instance  of  this  may  be  quoted 
the  footwear  industry. 

Fifteen  years  ago  ninety  per  cent  of  leather  boots  and 
shoes  of  all  kinds  were  imported  into  the  country,  notwith- 
standing, or  perhaps  because  of,  an  exorbitant  tariff.  That 
depends  upon  your  politics.  But  today,  the  import  duty  on  all 
manufactured  boots  and  shoes  is  forty  per  cent  ad  valorem, 
and  nearly  ninety  per  cent  of  the  footwear  sold  in  Buenos 
Aires  is  manufactured  in  the  republic. 

Much  of  the  footwear  sold  here  is  now  sold  as  of  North 


ARGENTINA  391 

American  manufacture,  even  to  the  extent  of  stamping  the 
name  of  some  fictitious  factory  of  the  United  States  upon  it. 
But  although  not  made  in  America,  as  claimed  by  the  vendors, 
the  articles  are  turned  out  by  large  and  ever-growing  fac- 
tories that  use  American  machinery  and  mold  their  work  on 
American  lasts. 

In  their  Centennial  Exposition  of  1910  boots  and  shoes  were 
turned  out,  finished  in  up-to-date  style,  before  the  eyes  of  the 
spectators,  in  half  an  hour,  every  portion  of  the  work  being 
done  by  American  machines.  But  shoes  made  in  the  United 
States  are  still  sold  here,  though  on  account  of  the  tariff,  at  a 
high  price,  and  there  is  now  one  large  store  in  the  most  fashion- 
able shopping  thoroughfare  of  Buenos  Aires,  Calle  Florida, 
which  sells  at  retail  nothing  but  one  make  of  American  boots 
and  shoes. 

For  many  years  an  enormous  trade  has  been  done  in  a 
loose,  comfortable,  soft  shoe  with  rope  soles  and  canvas  tops, 
called  the  alpargata.  They  can  be  bought  for  one  dollar 
in  paper  money  (forty-five  cents  in  United  States  money)  per 
pair,  and  are  worn  exclusively  by  workmen  and  laborers.  An 
astonishing  lot  of  wear  can  be  got  out  of  a  pair  of  alparga- 
tas,  notwithstanding  their  apparent  lightness  and  flimsiness, 
and  some  of  the  better  class  of  shoe  dealers  and  furnishing 
stores  have  turned  out  a  better  form  of  alp  ar gat  as,  which  are 
worn  by  the  well-to-do  in  the  country  and  at  the  seaside. 
There  is  one  alpargata  factory  in  Buenos  Aires  which  boasts 
it  can  make  over  100,000  pairs  a  day. 

There  are  one  or  two  glass  factories  which  are  able  to  con- 
tinue business,  but  the  cost  of  imported  fuel  and  material  is 
a  severe  handicap  to  them,  which  is  only  partly  met  by  the 
almost  prohibitory  tariff  designed  to  protect  them.  During 
the  time  I  was  there,  the  first  motor  car  manufactured 
in  Argentina  lumbered  through  the  streets  of  Buenos  Aires, 
bearing  a  large  sign  announcing  its  native  origin. 

There  is  one  industry,  however,  that  has  so  far  been 
entirely  able  to  keep  pace  with  the  natural  production  of  the 
country,  and  that  is  the  business  of  packing  meat,  the  plants 
for  which  are  here  called  frigorificos.  The  packing  plants 
have  steadily  increased  in  size,  number  and  productive  power; 


ARGENTINA  393 

so  much  so  that  the  Beef  Trust  in  Chicago  has  long  had  its 
"google"  eyes  on  them. 

Various  emissaries  have  been  sent  to  Argentina  from  time 
to  time,  all  kinds  of  glittering  offers  have  been  made  to  the 
different  companies,  but  only  two  plants  (which  were  fail- 
ures) in  this  country  have,  as  yet,  listened  to  the  blandish- 
ments of  the  tempter  from  up  North  and  sold  out. 

The  plants  referred  to  are  the  "La  Blanca,"  situated  in 
Buenos  Aires,  and  the  "La  Plata  Cold  Storage,"  in  or  near 
the  city  of  La  Plata.  The  former  is  now  considerably  im- 
proved under  trust  management  and  has  almost  doubled  its 
output.  The  latter  is  run  on  the  principle  of  the  packing  plants 
in  Chicago,  and  every  possible  centavo  that  can  be  made  is  ex- 
tracted from  every  ounce  of  every  animal  that  enters  and 
leaves  its  doors. 

To  describe  one  of  these  plants  is  to  describe  them  all, 
the  only  difference  being  in  the  locality  and  the  daily  output 
of  each  concern.  The  La  Plata  plant,  said  to  be  owned  by 
Swift  &  Company  of  Chicago,  or  the  Beef  Trust,  was  so  insan- 
itary and  dirty  that  the  man  in  charge  refused  to  allow  us  to 
photograph  the  interior.  Labor,  from  unskilled  to  skilled,  is 
paid  from  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  to  three  dollars 
and  a  half  per  day. 

One  of  the  great  manufacturing  industries  of  Argentina  is 
the  refining  of  sugar.  The  principal  refinery  is  located  at  Ro- 
sario,  and  is  owned  by  Germans  and  Argentinians.  Most  of 
the  yellow  sugar  is  shipped  from  Tucuman  and  the  territory 
north  of  there.  Two  years  ago  it  was  necessary  to  import 
beet  sugar  from  Germany  in  order  to  keep  the  factory  run- 
ning. The  capacity  of  the  refinery  above  referred  to  is  7,000 
tons  a  day,  or  700,000  tons  for  one  hundred  days.  They 
operate  only  during  the  period  in  which  cane  is  cut  and  reduced 
to  brown  sugar. 

The  price  of  sugar  in  Argentina  is  three  times  that  charged 
in  the  United  States,  and  the  industry  is  only  fostered  by  a 
prohibitive  import  duty.  The  people  complain  rather  bitterly, 
as  the  sugar  trust,  owing  to  the  tariff,  makes  an  enormous 
profit.  The  territory  that  grows  cane  is  quite  limited  and 
must  be  irrigated. 


394  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

I  was  at  one  winery  where  they  make  1,000,000  gallons  a 
year.  There  are  910  bodegas,  or  wineries,  in  the  province 
of  Mendoza,  and  over  100,000  acres  of  land  are  in  grapes,  the 
land  being  worth  $3,000  per  acre.  The  grapes  sell  for  an 
average  of  $500  per  acre  a  year. 

The  Government  tests  all  wine,  and  there  must  be  twelve 
per  cent  of  alcohol  in  the  product — no  more,  no  less.  The 
annual  output  of  wine  for  this  province  is  5,000,000  gallons. 
The  next  province  for  the  grape  is  San  Juan,  just  north  of 
Mendoza.  Many  provinces  produce  more  or  less. 

Flour  and  feed  mills  are  located  at  convenient  points,  but 
the  lack  of  power — water  power  being  very  far  away,  and  all 
coal  imported — makes  cost  of  manufacturing  flour  too  expen- 
sive. 

Argentina  is  limited  to  agricultural  and  mercantile  pur- 
suits, and  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  become  a  manufacturing 
country.  The  total  lack  of  minerals — even  building  stone — is 
quite  a  disadvantage,  and  the  very  high  tariff  imposed  on  every- 
thing makes  living,  except  for  the  food  products,  very  high. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
THE  RANCHES  OF  ARGENTINA. 

WHEN  the  first  white  man  came  to  North  America  he 
found  the  Indians,  the  buffalo  (wild  cattle),  the  pony, 
and  a  great  variety  of  game.  Not  so  in  South  America.  The 
first  white  people  who  tried  to  settle,  about  four  hundred  years 
ago,  what  is  now  Argentina,  found  the  Indians,  the  guanaco,  a 
species  of  llama  or  wild  sheep,  but  no  cattle  or  horses.  The 
absence  of  wild  game  to  live  on  had  forced  the  Indians  of  South 
America  to  secure  a  living  direct  from  the  soil,  instead  of  from 
animal  life.  This  accounts  for  the  advanced  condition  of  agri- 
culture and  irrigation.  The  Spaniards  brought  cattle,  sheep 
and  horses  with  them  when  they  attempted  to  make  their  first 
settlements  in  Argentina.  The  Indians  massacred  the  whites, 
and  their  domestic  animals  escaped  and  lived  and  thrived  in  a 
wild  condition  on  the  endless  pampas  (prairies),  multiplying 
by  millions  on  the  wild  grass  and  sweet  waters  of  this  rich 
country  and  soon  returning  to  their  original  natural  condition. 

Wild  grass  makes  wild  cattle.  Tame  grass  makes  tame  cat- 
tle. The  Indians,  from  seeing  the  first  soldiers  sent  out  by 
Spain  riding  horses,  learned  the  use  to  which  these  animals 
could  be  put,  so  they  caught,  tamed,  and  broke  many  of  them 
and  used  them  to  great  advantage  in  their  wars  with  the  set- 
tlers or  other  Indian  tribes.  They  became  very  expert  on 
horseback.  The  half-breed  gaucho  (cowboy)  of  Argentina  has 
had  no  equal,  except  in  our  own  frontier  cowboy  of  Texas, 
where  the  climate  and  topography  of  the  earth's  surface  is 
identical  with  that  found  here.  The  same  conditions  produce 
the  same  results  the  world  over. 

I  had  the  good  luck  to  meet  General  Julio  Roca,  twice 
President  of  Argentina,  and  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  pow- 
erful men,  politically,  in  the  republic.  He  extended  to  me  an 
invitation  for  a  few  days'  shooting  on  his  estancia  (ranch)  at 

395 


396  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

La  Larga  (meaning  long).  He  has  five  estancias  in  different 
parts  of  Argentina.  He  was  born  on  a  ranch  and  has  always 
been  a  great  champion  of  the  country  as  against  the  city.  When 
elected  President  the  first  time,  in  1880,  he  had  to  fight  his  way 
into  Buenos  Aires,  and  for  a  while  established  the  capital  out- 
side the  city.  A  President  cannot,  according  to  the  constitu- 
tion, succeed  himself.  His  second  term  was  served  only  six 
years  ago.  He  is  now  sixty-seven  years  old,  and  a  wonderfully 
well  preserved  man,  with  many  years  of  usefulness  ahead  of 
him. 

The  La  Larga  ranch  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south- 
west of  Buenos  Aires,  where  twenty-five  years  ago  only  wild, 
unconquered  Indians  lived.  The  Government  established  a 
fort  here,  and  General  Roca  opened  up  the  country.  This 
ranch  is  about  twenty-two  miles  long  and  ten  miles  wide.  Its 
name,  "La  Larga,"  comes  from  its  being  twice  as  long  as  it  is 
wide.  It  contains  over  140,000  acres  of  very  fine  grass  and 
farming  land,  and  is  said  to  be  a  good  sample  of  an  average 
cattle  and  grain-growing  farm  in  Argentina,  where  nearly  the 
whole  country  is  divided  up  into  what  we  would  call  verv  large 
estates.  The  real  pampas  of  Argentina  are  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles  long  (from  24  degrees  south  to  45  degrees  south), 
and  from  five  hundred  to  seven  hundred  miles  wide.  It  is 
known  as  an  "ocean  of  land,"  and  is  treeless,  except  where 
planted  by  the  owners.  There  is  not  a  big  hill  or  heap  of  stones 
to  break  the  monotony. 

There  is  little  or  no  song-bird  life.  It  is  the  kingdom  of 
silence.  It  is  the  backbone  and  wealth-producing  section  of  this 
wonderful  country.  It  is  to  Argentina  what  Illinois,  Kansas, 
Iowa,  Nebraska,  Texas  and  the  Dakotas  are  to  the  United 
States  and  exactly  similar  in  products,  climate  and  appearance. 
There  are  many  rivers  and  the  country  is  well  watered,  the 
average  rainfall  being  about  the  same  as  in  the  United  States. 
However,  as  in  the  United  States,  they  have  "dry  years,"  and 
certain  sections  in  1909  and  in  1910  were  quite  dry,  short- 
ening the  crops  of  wheat  and  corn  and  leaving  little  pasture  for 
the  cattle,  which  helped  keep  up  prices  of  grain  and  cattle  in 
the  United  States.  The  meat,  wheat  and  corn  producing  sec- 
tions of  the  United  States  and  Canada  may  just  as  well  realize 


ARGENTINA  397 

now  as  later  on,  that  Argentina  is  the  country  that  will  set  the 
export  price  and  that  Argentina  controls  our  home  market  price 
for  agricultural  products,  and  that  here  equally  as  good  land  as 
we  have  in  the  United  States  is  still  selling  for  from  only  five 
to  twenty  dollars  an  acre  in  the  older  settled  parts.  This  is  a 
serious  proposition,  but  we  must  face  it.  Land  in  the  older  and 
better  sections  of  the  United  States  is  selling  for  the  same  price 
as  equally  good  land  in  England,  France  and  Germany,  and  we 
have  the  difference  of  freight  against  us  in  reaching  the  markets 
of  the  world. 

In  the  year  previous  to  my  journey  to  South  America  I 
motored  over  ten  thousand  miles  in  Germany,  France  and 
England,  and  made  inquiry  everywhere  as  to  prices  of  land, 
finding  practically  no  difference  between  the  three  coun- 
tries mentioned  and  the  United  States.  We  must  realize, 
as  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  (Secretary  of  State) 
for  Argentina  said  to  me:  "The  United  States  of  North 
America  is  now  an  old  country." 

But  to  return  to  La  Larga  and  my  personal  experience.  I 
left  Buenos  Aires  one  evening  by  the  Southern  Railway  on  an 
electric-lighted  solid  Pullman  train,  and  the  next  morning  was 
met  at  the  station,  called  La  Larga,  by  Mr.  Allendo,  general 
manager  for  General  Roca.  He  was  accompanied  by  the  assist- 
ant manager,  Mr.  Walter  Hamilton,  a  Canadian  from  New 
Market,  Ontario,  Canada.  Mr.  Allendo  has  been  in  charge  of 
this  ranch  for  twenty  years ;  he  also  has  a  large  ranch  of  his  own 
in  the  province  of  Cordova,  three  hundred  miles  north,  and  is 


A  DURHAM   BULL  ON  LA  LARGA  RANCH. 


398 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


said  to  be  worth  $500,000  himself.  He  has  seven  sons,  and 
proposes  to  educate  them  in  different  countries  of  the  world, 
one  in  the  United  States,  one  in  England,  etc.  Mr.  Hamilton 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Ontario,  and  is 
making  commendable  progress  in  this  new  country. 

There  are  three  railroads  and  three  stations  on  this  big 
ranch.  I  was  driven  to  the  General's  residence  in  a  carriage, 
such  as  we  use  for  going  to  the  opera  in  Chicago,  by  a  coachman 
in  livery,  behind  as  fine  a  pair  of  horses  as  I  ever  saw.  After 
a  breakfast  such  as  you  would  sit  down  to  at  the  Waldorf  in 
New  York,  I  was  driven  through  a  thousand-acre  park,  set  out 
with  hundreds  of  thousands  of  trees.  I  was  shown  the  kitchen 
gardens,  where  all  kinds  of  vegetables  were  still  growing,  al- 
though it  was  late  in  the  fall  in  Argentina. 

My  secretary,  as  well  as  my  photographer,  had  preceded  me 
by  two  days  and  had  taken  about  forty  photographs,  all  of 
which  I  wish  I  could  show  the  reader.  We  then  started  to  look 
over  the  ranch,  and  four  magnificent  horses  were  hitched  to  a 
coach  and  we  set  out  for  one  of  the  smaller  ranch  houses  for 
lunch.  Over  fifty  miles  of  roads  have  been  made  on  this  ranch 
by  a  United  States  "Champion"  road  grader,  and  although  it 


ONE  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  ON  THE  RANCH  OF  GENERAL  ROCA  AT 
LA   LARGA. 


ARGENTINA 


399 


had  been  raining,  the  roads  were  so  well  "crowned"  and 
drained  it  was  almost  dusty. 

The  first  stop  made  was  to  visit  one  of  the  schools  sup- 
ported by  General  Roca  for  the  children  of  his  two  hundred 
employes.  You  never  saw  a  cleaner,  brighter-eyed,  keener- 
looking  lot  of  youngsters  in  your  life.  One  thing  that  struck 
me  as  odd  was  that  they  all  studied  "out  loud."  The  noise,  to 
one  not  accustomed  to  this,  was  awful,  but  I  presume  it's  all 
in  getting  used  to  it.  They  sang  for  me  the  national  hymn  and 
recited  in  a  way  quite  creditable  to  any  public  school. 

Next  we  witnessed  the  branding  of  some  mule  colts.  Then 
we  went  on  to  the  great  concrete  dipping  trough,  through 
which  the  cattle  are  driven  when  they  need  it.  One  thing  I 
noticed  was  that  all  bones  of  animals  that  died  on  the  ranch 
were  gathered  up  into  a  pile  and  burned.  This,  Mr.  Allendo 
told  me,  prevented  disease  among  the  cattle,  as  they  would  bite 
the  bones  for  the  salt,  and  contract  sickness. 

Another  thing  that  impressed  me  very  much  was  the  fact 
that  when  all  those  big  farms  are  divided  up  and  sold  to  small 
holders,  some  day,  and  public  sentiment  is  now  facing  this  con- 
dition, the  men  who  have  worked  on  these  big  estancias  will 


MR.    BOYCE,    MR.    ALLENDO,    AND    MR.    HAMILTON    INSPECTING    A 
CATTLE  DIP  ON   LA  LARGA  RANCH. 


400  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


A  DROVE  OF  ARGENTINIAN  CATTLI 

have  had  the  benefit  of  first-class  schooling  and  training 
in  how  to  do  things  right  and  will  owe  their  future  success  to 
such  men  as  General  Roca,  Mr.  Allendo  and  Mr.  Hamilton. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  "lunch  house"  I  found  it  to  be  quite 
an  establishment,  where  forty  men  were  dining  in  a  big  room, 
supplied  with  a  meal  that  one  would  pay  a  dollar  for  in  the 
United  States.  A  man  cook  was  in  charge  of  the  kitchen. 
These  men  on  the  ranch  receive  from  twenty  to  thirty  dollars 
a  month,  the  year  round,  and  their  board,  and  when  married  are 
furnished  with  a  house  free  and  food  for  their  families  as 
well  as  themselves.  The  men  are  sober,  save  their  money  and 
buy  land  whenever  and  wherever  a  big  estate  is  broken  up, 
which  is  not  uncommon  now. 

I  was  surprised  to  find,  when  I  sat  down  to  a  bountiful 
lunch  in  a  large,  clean  dining-room  in  a  big  farmhouse,  that, 
thinking  I  might  be  particular  as  to  how  I  was  served,  they  had 
sent  over  Charlie,  my  personal  servant,  fifteen  miles,  to  wait 


A    FLOCK    CONTAINING   THOUSANDS   OF 


ARGENTINA 


THE  WIDE  PRAIRIES  AT  LA  LARGA. 

on  me  at  the  table.  Charlie  enjoyed  the  ride,  I  knew,  and  I 
appreciated  the  trouble  to  which  they  had  gone.  After  lunch  we 
took  some  photographs  and  returned  to  the  residence,  which 
contained  every  modern  comfort.  There  I  enjoyed  a  bath  in 
a  six-foot  bathtub,  in  a  room  10x20  feet,  with  tile  floor,  walls 
and  ceiling.  There  were  four  such  bathrooms  in  this  house. 

General  Roca  was  subdividing  this  ranch,  as  well  as  his 
others,  I  was  told,  into  five  parts,  and  improving  each  sepa- 
rately for  his  five  children— one  son  and  four  daughters.  The 
big  thousand-acre  park  at  La  Larga  he  will  present  to  the  Gov- 
ernment for  a  forestry  station  to  demonstrate  to  the  public 
what  can  be  done  in  a  few  years  with  trees  on  the  prairies  of 
Argentina,  and  thus  prove  what  has  long  been  his  hobby. 
He  has  over  400,000  trees  on  the  La  Larga  estancia, 
most  of  them  only  ten  years  old,  while  many  are  only 
two  years  old.  The  favorite  tree,  which  does  the  best  and  reaches 
a  height  of  fifty  feet  in  ten  years,  is  the  eucalyptus  from  Aus- 


EEP  ON  THE  RANGE,  LA  LARGA 
26 


402  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

tralia.  A  thornless  variety  of  the  acacia  does  well  and  soon 
furnishes  shade.  Fruit  trees  grow  well,  as  do  many  other 
varieties. 

Of  the  140,000  acres  in  this  ranch,  20,000  acres  were  in 
crop.  Oats  are  sown  in  the  fall,  come  up  quickly  and  the  cat- 
tle graze  on  the  fields.  No  hay  is  put  up.  This  crop  comes 
in  and  is  harvested  before  the  wheat. 

On  this  ranch  I  found  30,000  head  of  cattle,  mostly  Dur- 
ham. A  good  fat  steer  weighing  1,300  pounds,  live  weight, 
will  bring  $50  gold.  Of  course  there  is  only  a  small  percentage 
of  this  grade.  They  are  seldom  fed  grain.  Much  of  this  ranch 
has  been  put  into  alfalfa,  which  the  cattle  eat  down  close  by 


SPECIMENS  OF  BEEF  CATTLE  AT  LA  LARGA. 

fall  and  during  the  winter.  The  cattle  thrive  and  fatten  on  the 
alfalfa  plant,  which  grows  well  on  nearly  all  Argentinian 
ranches,  as  the  roots  reach  water  at  from  five  to  fifteen  feet. 

The  second  great  source  of  national  wealth  is  the  pastoral 
industry ;  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  are  the  leaders.  In  1909  the 
census  showed  29,116,625  head  of  cattle,  principally  Durhams 
and  Herefords,  in  Argentina,  and  69,438,758  in  the  United 
States.  Of  horses  there  were  8,531,376  in  Argentina,  with  21,- 
216,888  in  the  United  States.  In  sheep,  Argentina  led  the 
United  States,  having  67,2 11,758,  mostly  Merinos  and  Lincolns, 
while  Uncle  Sam  could  show  in  the  same  year  only  61,837,112. 
There  are  quite  a  number  of  mules  bred  from  pure  Spanish 
jacks.  In  some  sections  goats  are  raised  for  their  skins.  The 


ARGENTINA 


403 


total  value  of  live  stock  of  all  kinds  in  the  republic  is  over 
$1,600,000,000. 

On  the  La  Larga  ranch  General  Roca  has  20,000  Lincoln 
sheep  and  5,000  horses.  He  breeds  mostly  Percheron  horses 
crossed  with  well-bred  native  stock,  which  produces  a  good- 
sized,  quick,  strong  and  clean-looking  animal.  Here  I  found 
over  5,000  ostriches,  from  which  they  get  an  average  of  two 
dollars'  worth  of  feathers  a  year,  and  they  are  no  trouble  to 
look  after,  but  each  ostrich  eats  as  much  grass  as  a  sheep. 

The  system  in  Argentina  is  to  fence  everything.  On  one 
ranch  I  found  four  hundred  miles  of  wire  fence.  Only  the  top 


TYPES  OF  HORSES  ON  THE  LA  LARGA  RANCH. 

wire  is  barbed.  Around  all  groves  of  trees  a  fine  wire  is  used 
to  keep  out  rabbits,  or  hares,  which  are  a  pest  in  some  localities. 
When  we  were  hunting  on  the  La  Larga  ranch  we  shot  them 
until  we  grew  weary.  A  three-horse  wagon  followed  us  all 
day,  and  the  box  was  full  at  night. 

The  martinetta  is  about  the  size  of  our  prairie  chicken, 
possibly  a  little  larger.  It  is  a  swift  flyer  and  makes  a  hard 
shot  when  off,  but  is  hard  to  get  up.  It  is  marked  more  like 
our  pheasant  than  grouse,  and  has  dark  red  wings,  being  a 
very  handsome  bird.  Another  game  bird,  called  the  capetone, 
has  a  beautiful  topknot,  and  is  handsomely  marked.  It  is  about 
the  size  of  a  young  prairie  chicken,  is  gamy  and  a  good  flyer. 


404 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


They  have  also  what  they  call  a  quail,  but  it  is  about  the 
size  of  the  partridge  of  the  Southern  States  and  twice  the  size 
of  our  bob-white.  It  is  a  "runner,"  but  makes  a  quick  get- 
away when  it  rises. 

There  are  few  hunting  dogs  in  the  country,  the  system 
used  being  to  take  about  one  hundred  yards  of  wire  with  a 
horse  at  each  end  and  drag  the  ground.  The  sportsmen  fol- 
low the  wire  on  foot.  The  coaches,  and  horseback  riders  to 
gather  up  the  game  for  the  wagons,  are  always  on  hand. 
Every  minute  there  is  a  hare  or  bird  to  shoot  at,  and  when  you 
get  tired  of  shooting  and  walking  you  get  into  the  coach,  drawn 
by  four  horses,  and  ride  awhile. 

I  would  be 
ashamed  to  tell 
how  many  shells 
I  shot;  anyhow, 
over  two  hun- 
dred a  day,  and 
the  reader 
might  think  me 
boa  sting  if  I 
mentioned  m  y 
bag.  It  was  the 
best  few  days' 
sport  I  ever 
had,  or  expect 
to  have,  and  I 
have  had  a  few 
and  hope  to 
have  a  few  more  in  the  future — in  my  own  native  land. 

It  now  became  my  duty  to  take  my  last  look  at  Argentina, 
and  to  say  farewell.  For  nearly  three  months  I  had  car- 
ried a  card  from  the  chief  of  police  of  the  city  of  Buenos 
Aires  that  protected  me  from  arrest  under  any  circumstances 
or  for  any  crime.  From  the  President  down  to  the  most  lowly 
citizen,  every  opportunity  possible  had  been  afforded  me  to 
gain  correct  information  about  conditions  as  they  really  ex- 
isted. The  clubs  and  hotels  had  treated  me  as  a  real  guest, 
and  not  as  a  transient  customer.  The  merchants,  and  those 


WHEN   WE  LUNCHED  ON  LA  LARGA  RANCH, 
ARGENTINA. 


ARGENTINA  405 

with  whom  I  did  business,  took  my  money  as  if  they  needed 
it  and  charged  what  seemed  a  high  price  for  their  wares — but 
no  more  than  others  paid. 

The  newspaper  fraternity  treated  me  like  a  brother.  There 
are  a  lot  of  big  men  in  the  profession  in  Argentina  and  they 
aided  me  freely  in  every  way.  The  railroads  could  not  have 
treated  me  better  had  I  been  the  President  of  the  United 
States  or  an  ambassador.  I  was  not  only  put  over  the  road 
"in  comfort" — which  means  a  private  car — but  had  the  assist- 
ance of  every  division  superintendent  in  securing  entrance  to 
factories,  ranches  and  pubjic  and  private  places.  This  aided 
greatly  in  saving  time.  It  was  not  from  Buenos  Aires  that 
I  got  my  view  of  Argentina,  but  from  13,000  miles  of  travel, 
principally  by  railroad  and  river. 

Argentina,  I  am  glad  your  railroads  pay,  and  that  capital- 
ists of  the  United  States  have  been  lately  investing  in  your 
stock.  To  the  United  States  legation,  and  the  good  friends  I 
made,  who  invited  me  to  their  homes  and  made  me  welcome, 
I  owe  a  great  debt.  I  shall  never  forget  your  generous  hospi- 
tality, and  while  I  may  never  be  able  to  repay  you  in  like 
manner,  I  will  try  to  pass  it  on  to  some  one  else.  From  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  I  thank  you. 


PARAGUAY 


Area,  157,000  square  miles,  or  a  little  larger  than  the  States  of 
Iowa,  Indiana  and  Illinois  combined.  Population  about 
500,000 — Chief  resources,  mate  (Paraguay  tea),  tobacco, 
cattle,  timber,  oranges — Total  exports  and  imports  in  1010, 
$0,800,000 — Exports  to  United  States  in  ion,  $34,516, 
imports  from  the  United  States,  $86,986 — Army,  esti- 
mated at  2,600,  but  varies  according  to  the  size  of  the  revo- 
lution that  may  be  under  way — Capital,  Asuncion,  popula- 
tion, 80,000. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
INDIANS,  SPANISH,  DICTATORS,    RESULTS. 

GOOD  climate,  soil  and  transportation,  are  the  three  great 
factors  in  the  development  of  a  highly  civilized  race.  The 
exception  to  this  rule,  world-wide  though  it  be,  is  Paraguay. 
Read  the  answer  in  the  history  of  the  country.     I  will  only  at- 
tempt to  give  a  short  review  of  leading  events,  in  order  to  bring 

the  reader  down  to  the  present, 
and  then  enumerate  the  net  re- 
sults. 

Before  Columbus  discovered 
South  America,  the  whole  country 
was  inhabited  by  Indians.  Those 
who  occupied  what  is  now  Para- 
guay, were  and  are  called  the 
Guaranies,  and  the  country 
Guayra.  The  Indians  living  in 
the  rich,  fertile  country  east  of  the 
Paraguay  River  were  peaceful 
and  tilled  the  soil  and  lived  on 
tropical  fruits.  Those  west  of  the 
same  river  occupied  what  was  sup- 
posed to  be  inaccessible  swamps, 
and  were  wild  and  nomadic  in 
their  habits.  This  country  west 


A  WOMAN  SMOKER  IN 
PARAGUAY. 


406 


PARAGUAY 


407 


of  the  Paraguay  River,  known  as  the  Chaco  swamp,  has  lately 
proved  to  contain  much  fine  grazing  land. 

In  1526  Cabot,  searching  for  the  center  of  South  America, 
from  whence  all  the  gold  was  supposed  to  come,  came  up  the 
Paraguay  River  and  stopped  at  an  Indian  village,  where  Asun- 
cion is  now  located.  He  did  not  go  farther  north,  as  he  was 
out  of  provisions,  but  returned  home  unsuccessful.  How- 
ever, he  reported  the  Indians  in  these  parts  of  South  America 
as  peaceful  and  not  warlike.  This  in  itself  was  a  great  dis- 
covery. 

In  1533  Mendoza  received  from  Charles  V.  of  Spain  a  large 
grant  of  land,  from  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  south,  if  he  could  take  it 
from  the  Indians  and  hold  it.  He  arrived  the  same  year  where 
Buenos  Aires  is  now  built,  with  2,000  men.  The  Indians  re- 
fused to  give  up  their  homes  peaceably,  and  also  refused  to 
furnish  food  for  the  foreign  invaders,  who  nearly  starved. 
Neither  did  the  Spanish  appreciate  being  picked  off  one  at  a 
time  if  they  left  their  fort.  This  was  not  fair,  so  those  left  of 
them  at  the  end  of  a  year  came  on  up  the  river,  first  to  Cabot's 
old  fort,  then  on  up  the  Paraguay  River,  and  established  the 
first  real  white  settlement,  in  1536,  at  Asuncion.  There  is  no 
prettier  or  better  site  for  a  city  in  South  America.  The  ground 
rises  in  a  gentle  slope  from  the  river,  affording  excellent  drain- 
age. If  you  will  take  the  map  of  South  America,  and  start  at 
the  mouth  of  the  River  Plata,  and  follow  up  that  river  to  where 
it  is  formed  by  the  Parana  and  the  Uruguay  Rivers,  then  on  up 
the  Parana  River,  to  where  the  Paraguay  River  comes  into  it, 
and  then  up  this  last-named  river  for  150  miles,  you  will  be  at 
Asuncion,  the  capital  city.  If  you  were  to  go  on  up  the  Para- 
guay River  for  two  hundred  miles  more,  you  would  be  in 
Brazil,  where  this  river  has  its  source.  As  I  stated  in  the  be- 
ginning, good  transportation  is  necessary  to  the  development  of 
any  country  and  race  of  people.  These  three  rivers,  the  Plata, 
Parana  and  Paraguay,  furnish  a  navigable  water  course  for 
large  ships,  drawing  at  Asuncion  ten  feet  of  water,  and  more 
as  you  pass  down  the  river,  until  you  come  to  Santa  Fe,  where 
you  may  see  ocean-going  vessels  berthed. 

These  rivers  are  so  wide  that  sailing  vessels  successfully 
navigate  the  course.  From  Buenos  Aires  to  Asuncion,  700 


408 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


miles  as  the  crow 
flies,  is  over  1,000 
miles  by  the  river.  A 
Chicago  newspa  per 
correspondent,  who 
had  never  been  on  or 
up  the  river,  wrote  a 
letter  for  his  paper, 
some  years  ago,  de- 
scribing this  "chain 
of  rivers"  as  being 
navigable  for  big  war 
vessels  for  2,000 
miles,  and  this  article 
was  read  into  the 
Congressional  Record 
at  Washington,  mak- 
ing it  official.  It  was 
not  true,  and  caused 
much  trouble,  as  the 
world  accepted  it  as 
true,  because  it  was 
"officially"  published. 

Paraguay  can  not 
lay  her  uncivilized 
condition  to  a  lack  of 
connection  with  the 
outside  world,  nor  to 
her  climate,  soil  or 
products,  but  to  a 
chain  of  c  i  r  c  u  in- 
stances unique  in  the 
attempt  to  develop  a 
nation. 

When  all  that  re- 
m  a  i  n  e  d  from  the 
Mendoza  expedition 
reached  Asuncion, 
they  concluded  to  re- 


PARAGUAY 


409 


main,  and  took  In- 
dian women  for 
wives.  During  the 
next  seventy-five 
years  the  country 
thrived  and  grew, 
and  the  half-breed 
children,  called 
Creoles,  made  many 
settlements  over 
that  part  of  Para- 
guay east  of  the 
river  of  the  same 
name.  The  d  e- 
scendants  of  these 
Creoles  are  now 
the  "old  families" 
of  the  republic. 
They  were  mostly 
cattle  people.  They 
were  so  far  from 
Spain .  they  paid 
little  attention  to 
Spanish  laws  or 
rule,  but  got  along 
very  well  among 
thems  elves,  and 
the  half-slave  In- 
dians, who  did  the 
work  for  them. 
Since  the  appear- 
ance of  the  first 
white  man  the  Par- 
aguayan India  n 
had  been  accus- 
tomed to  take  his 
orders  from  him. 
About  the  year 
1617,  however,  the 


4io 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


A  PARAGUAYAN  SOLDIER 


Jesuit  priests  having  been  driven  farther 
west  from  the  Atlantic  coast,  began  to  in- 
troduce their  customs  and  religion,  and  to 
make  attempts  at  civilizing  the  Indians. 

From  1580  to  1640  there  was  no  well- 
defined  line  between  Portugal  and  Spain  as 
to  their  South  American  possessions,  and 
during  this  time  the  King  of  Spain  was 
monarch  of  Portugal.  So  the  Jesuits,  who 
held  a  royal  letter,  given  during  that  period, 
to  convert  the  Indians  of  Guayra  —  the  name 
given  this  country  —  thought  they  were  per- 
fectly safe,  and  "had  it  right  going  and 
coming."  The  Jesuit  fathers  gathered  the 
Indians  into  villages  and  had  them  build 
churches  for  them  and  cultivate  a  little  land 
near  the  villages.  They  were  kind  to  the 

I"diallS  3"d  did  "Ot  ***  them  the  Prices 

of  war,  but  peace.  By  these  means  tribal 
wars  were  prevented,  and  the  population 
increased  very  fast.  However,  the  Creoles,  or  land  owners, 
were  by  the  acts  of  the  Jesuits  deprived  of  the  labor  of  the 
Indians,  as  the  Indians  preferred  to  work  for  the  Jesuits,  and 
like  two  labor  unions,  the  Creoles  and  the  Jesuits  were  always 
at  "outs"  with  one  another. 

The  Jesuits  were  great  organizers,  hard  workers  and  repre- 
sented a  degree  of  civilization  never  since  reached  in  Paraguay. 
Their  worst  enemies,  however,  were  the  Paulist  order  of  monks, 
who  had  driven  the  Jesuits  from  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil.  The  Paul- 
ists  desired  to  take  slaves,  teach  the  Indians  war,  and  create 
an  army  out  of  them  for  offense  and  defense.  As  the  Paulists 
were  always  armed  they  had  no  trouble  in  breaking  up  the 
settlements  of  the  Jesuits,  who  were  defenseless.  The  latter 
only  scattered  until  the  fathers  got  them  together  again.  This1 
three-cornered  fight,  between  the  Creoles  and  the  two  orders  of 
the  Church,  kept  up  for  more  than  a  century,  costing  many 
lives  and  holding  the  country  back.  At  last  the  Jesuits  armed 
their  Indians,  and  as  the  Church  had  taken  sides  against  them, 
they  did  business  on  their  own  account,  and  were  quite  sue- 


PARAGUAY 


411 


cessful.  They  threw  out  not  only  the  Church,  but  the  Spanish 
Governor,  nearly  one  hundred  years  before  the  first  republic 
in  South  America  was  established.  In  effect,  they  established 
the  first  republic  in  a  country  which  now  forms  a  portion  of 
the  so-called  Republic  of  Paraguay. 

In  1769  the  King  of  Spain  banished  the  Jesuits  from  South 
America.  At  that  time  they  had  200,000  Indians  under  their 
command.  They  did  not  resist.  They  faded  away  and  the 
country  returned  to  a  state  of  chaos.  The  Spanish  officials, 
who  replaced  the  Jesuits,  were  very  cruel  to  the  Indians. 

There  was  a  Spanish  Governor  at  Asuncion,  and  Belgrano, 
the  enthusiastic  Argentinian  general,  set  out  to  establish  a  re- 
public for  Paraguay.  With  a  small  army,  not  expecting  resist- 
ance, he  got  within  sixty  miles  of  Asuncion,  where  he  was  met 
by  the  Paraguayan  soldiers  and  defeated.  He  escaped,  but 
part  of  his  army  fell  prisoners  and  were  held  in  the  country, 
where  they  told  their  captors  about  the  advantage  of  a  republi- 
can form  of  government.  The  result  was  a  revolution,  and  a 
bloodless  one,  for  the  Spanish  Governor  had  no  soldiers  and 
Spain  was  helpless  to  aid  him.  So  he  stepped  aside  and  became 
a  private  citizen. 

After  a  good  deal  of  fuss  with  their  new-fangled  freedom,  a 
sort  of  Congress  was  held.  General  Yegros,  an  ignorant  sol- 
dier, and  Francia,  a  wise  and  learned  lawyer,  popular  with  the 
people,  were  selected  to  rule.  After  much  trouble  brains  suc- 
ceeded over  bullets,  and  Francia  was  elected  sole  executive,  and 
in  1816  declared 
supreme  and  per- 
p  e  t  u  a  1  Dictator. 
For  the  next  twen- 
ty-five years  he 
was  the  Govern- 
ment of  Paraguay, 
and  the  people 
minded  their  own 
business.  If  they 
attempted  to  inter- 
fere, they  were  ex- 
ecuted. This  con- 


GOING  TO  MARKET  IN   PARAGUAY. 


4i2  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

dition  under  Francia  was  not  so  bad.  He  refused  to  accept 
any  money,  except  his  bare  living.  He  refused  all  presents, 
or,  if  he  kept  them,  sent  the  donor  their  value  in  cash.  He 
kept  no  books;  not  a  single  Government  record  was  found 
when  he  died. 

He  knew  that  his  power  depended  upon  the  friendship  of  the 
Indians,  and  he  saw  that  strict  justice  was  done  them.  The 
cfeole,  white  man  and  priest,  were  no  friends  of  his.  He  did 
not  allow  them  to  speak  his  name.  He  was  referred  to  as  el 
Supremo.  When  he  ordered  a  man  executed,  as  soon  as  it 
was  accomplished  the  order  was  returned  to  him  and  torn  up. 
Foreigners  were  not  permitted  to  enter  the  country  without  a 
special  permit.  He  neither  received  nor  sent  ministers  or  con- 
suls to  foreign  countries.  He  was  the  only  merchant,  not  for 
himself,  but  for  the  State.  Two-thirds  of  all  the  cultivated  land 
was  worked  by  the  State  for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  The 
people  were  forced  to  furnish  the  labor.  No  foreign  ships 
were  allowed  on  the  Paraguay  River.  He  was  very  morose 
and  quiet,  never  talking  to  any  one.  Afraid  of  Brazil,  Argen- 
tina and  Spain,  he  built  up  an  army  and  organized  the  whole 
population  on  a  defensive  basis.  When  he  died,  seven  hundred 
unexecuted  political  prisoners  were  released.  The  country  had 
prospered  under  his  rule,  and  they  had  enjoyed  the  benefits  of 
peace  and  justice.  Yet  they  had  not  improved  otherwise.  He 
was  the  kind  of  man  necessary  to  govern  the  kind  of  people  he 
had  under  him  at  that  time.  He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-three, 
having  been  ill  only  three  days.  He  never  married.  When 
asked  to  appoint  a  successor,  he  said :  "What's  the  use  ?  Only 
the  man  who  can  hold  down  the  job  can  rule." 

After  several  months  of  chaos,  during  which  the  army  got 
tired  of  putting  up  and  pulling  down  would-be  rulers,  the 
people  tried  to  elect  another  Congress,  and  they  did  elect  again 
two  rulers,  but  in  the  end  one  of  the  two  forced  the  other  out 
and  left  as  Dictator  Lopez  I.  He  was  a  farmer-lawyer,  who, 
while  Francia  was  alive,  knew  enough  to  be  quiet  and  keep  his 
head  on  his  shoulders.  He  succeeded  to  all  the  absolute  power 
of  the  first  Dictator.  He  was  a  pretty  decent  sort.  He  freed  all 
negro  children  born.  He  tried  to  frame  a  constitution,  and  he 
catered  to  foreigners.  He  wished  for  recognition  by  the  other 


PARAGUAY 


THE  CATHEDRAL,  ASUNCION,  PARAGUAY. 


A  CITY  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  ASUNCION. 


414  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Governments.  Permission  was  granted  to  foreign  ships  to 
navigate  the  Paraguay  River  as  far  as  Asuncion.  Foreigners 
were  permitted  to  enter  the  country,  and  trade  with  them  was 
encouraged.  Asuncion  erected  many  modern  buildings  and  re- 
sembled other  capitals. 

Lopez  I.  objected  to  the  shedding  of  blood.  Justice  was 
administered  and  life  and  property  were  safe.  However,  he 
was  Dictator,  and  no  one  could  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
Government  but  himself  and  family.  He  loaned  money  to  an 
American  to  bring  a  colony  to  grow  tobacco,  but  got  into  a  fuss 
with  him.  The  Water  Witch,  a  United  States  navy  boat,  ap- 
peared. He  then  forbade  foreign  war  vessels  the  use  of  his 

rivers  and  harbors,  and  fired 
on  the  Water  Witch,  killing 
one  man.  The  United  States 
demanded  cash  and  an  apol- 
ogy, and  got  both.  After 
that  Lopez  I.  turned  against 
foreigners,  and  many  were 
the  resulting  complications. 

He   then   began   to   prepare 

his  country   for   foreign   in- 

A  COUNTRY  MANSION  IN  ^^        He  had  three  ^ 

PARAGUAY.  the      oldest>       Francisc0)       he 

trained    for    his    successor. 

Francisco  was  Minister  of  War.  The  other  two  sons  held 
Government  positions.  They  were  all  very  wild  and  reckless 
They  took  as  many  mistresses  as  they  desired  and  enriched 
themselves  from  the  public  treasury.  After  eighteen  months 
in  European  capitals,  Francisco  returned  with  a  French  mis- 
tress and  a  "swelled  head."  His  father  died  in  1862  and 
Francisco  Lopez  became  Lopez  II.  Poor  Paraguayans,  what 
did  you  ever  do  that  you  should  be  called  upon  to  suffer  so? 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  French  mistress  of  Lopez  II.  saw 
that  her  only  chance  to  get  away  with  a  big  lot  of  money  would 
be  in  time  of  war,  and  so  she  urged  him  on  to  bring  about  war 
with  Brazil.  This  resulted  in  war  with  Argentina  and  Uruguay 
at  the  same  time,  as  he  attempted  to  march  his  army  through 
those  countries  without  their  consent.  At  the  beginning  of 


PARAGUAY  415 

this  war  the  population  of  Paraguay  was  about  700,000 ;  at  the 
close  it  was  200,000  women  and  25,000  old  men  and  boys. 

The  world's  historians  usually  talk  about  how  brave  the 
people  were,  and  how  they  died  for  Paraguay.  I  do  not 
believe  they  were  brave.  They  were  driven  to  battle,  and 
each  soldier  had  orders  to  shoot  any  man  who  ran.  Sur- 
rounded by  executioners,  it  was  pure  cowardice  that  kept  the 
soldiers  in  the  firing  line.  I  changed  my  mind  about  their 
bravery  after  I  arrived  in  their  country.  They  never  had  any- 
thing or  anybody  to  fight  for,  except  a  Dictator,  whom  they 
never  loved,  and  only  feared.  After  the  death  and  surrender  of 
Lopez  II.  the  allied  armies  remained  in  Paraguay.  The  Bra- 
zilian army  remained  seven  years.  Such  a  thing  as  honor  and 
virtue  became  practically  unknown.  There  were  few  mar- 
riages, ninety  per  cent  of  the  children  being  illegitimate,  and  at 
the  present  time  one  sees  many  black-faced  Paraguayans. 
From  this  stock,  and  the  sailors  who  visited  the  river  ports,  this 
poor  country  has  been  repeopled.  One  should  not  expect  too 
much  of  them. 

President  Albino  Jara,  the  Dictator  while  I  was  there,  was 
the  illegitimate  son  of  a  market  woman  and  an  Argentinian 
soldier.  He  was  cruel,  uneducated,  except  in  the  drill  of 
soldiers,  and  made  himself  Dictator  by  practices  not  allowed 
in  warfare  of  the  present  day.  He  held  his  position  only  through 
the  power  of  the  army,  and  copied  after  Lopez  II.  He  was 
overthrown  and  lost  his  power  in  another  revolution,  a  few 
weeks  after  I  left  Paraguay. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

LOPEZ  AND  LYNCH. 

IT  IS  asserted  that  for  brevity  nothing  equals  the  story  of  the 
creation  of  the  world,  which  is  told  in  six  hundred  words. 
There  is  nothing  remarkable  about  that,  because  at  the  begin- 
ning there  were  only  one  man  and  one  woman.  Had  there  been 
one  thousand  men  and  women  it  would  probably  have  taken 
six  hundred  thousand  words. 

In  treating  the  history  of  Paraguay,  past  and  present,  I  am 
going  to  break  into  the  middle  of  it  and  work  both  ways,  so 
you  may  better  understand  cause  and  effect.  There  is  always 
a  "reason  why"  for  everything,  be  it  good  or  bad,  and  Para- 
guay is  really  bad.  I  know  at  the  start  that  it  is  going  to  take 
more  than  six  hundred  words  to  tell  the  story  of  Paraguay,  but 


THE  PALACE  OF  LOPEZ,  NOW  A  HOTEL,  ASUNCION,  PARAGUAY. 

4l6 


PARAGUAY  417 

it  is  an  interesting  narrative,  and  the  more  I  go  into  detail  the 
better  you  will  like  it. 

Asuncion,  the  capital  of  Paraguay,  is  possibly  the  oldest 
continuous  settlement  in  South  America,  as  it  dates  from  1526. 
The  early  history  of  this  country  is  as  reliable  as  South  Ameri- 
can records  will  make  it,  but  the  history  of  the  past  century  is 
largely  hearsay.  Few  writers  have  visited  this  country,  and 
no  records  or  books  were  kept  from  1811  to  1850  by  the  first 
two  Dictators,  De  Francia  and  Carlos  Antonio  Lopez,  known 
as  Lopez  I. 

Forty  years  ago  the  world  was  startled  by  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  lawsuits  ever  tried  before  a  Scotch  jury.  This  law- 
suit brought  to  light,  through  the  sworn  testimony  of  reputable 
American,  English,  French  and  South  American  men  and 
women,  present  in  Paraguay  during  the  long  war  with  Brazil, 
Argentina  and  Uruguay,  the  practices  of  a  despot,  who  mas- 
queraded under  the  title  of  President  of  a  republic  (which  had 
never  existed  in  fact),  and  the  horrible  conditions  that  existed 
in  that  so-called  republic  during  a  long-continued  reign  of 
terror. 

Francisco  Solano  Lopez,  who  succeeded  his  father  as  Pres- 
ident in  1862,  and  known  as  Lopez  II.,  the  Dictator,  was  con- 
stantly accompanied  by  his  favorite  mistress,  Madam  Lynch, 
a  prostitute  he  had  picked  up  in  Paris,  who  not  only  coun- 
seled and  advised  him,  but  absolutely  controlled  him.  History 
presents  no  parallel  to  this  case  in  crime — murder,  robbery,  in- 
trigue, and  the  wrecking  of  a  whole  nation  for  a  wanton 
woman.  The  historic  love  affair  of  Mark  Antony  and  Cleo- 
patra seems  heroic  and  beautiful  when  compared  with  that  of 
Lopez  and  Lynch. 

Madam  Lynch,  through  her  position  and  influence  with 
Lopez,  could  command  the  life  and  property  of  any  person 
within  the  reach  of  the  Dictator  and  his  minions,  whether 
citizens  of  Paraguay  or  foreigners — and  she  ordered  executions 
and  confiscations  at  the  whim  of  the  moment.  Among 
others  who  fell  under  her  displeasure  was  Dr.  Stewart,  the 
Scotch  surgeon-general  of  the  army.  He  had  married  a 
wealthy  Paraguayan  woman,  a  member  of  one  of  the  old 
27 


418 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Spanish  families,  who  refused  to  recognize  the  mistress  of  the 
Dictator  as  the  first  lady  of  the  land. 

It  is  said  that  "hell  hath  no  fury  like  a  woman  scorned," 
and  the  worse  the  woman  the  more  is  she  to  be  feared.  Re- 
fusal to  bow  the  knee  to  Madam  Lynch  was  enough  to  merit 
death,  which  fate  might  be  staved  off  indefinitely  if  the  marked 
victim  could  produce  a  large  sum  of  money  as  often  as  the 

Madam  thought  it 
should  be  forth- 
coming. 

As  fast  as  Dr. 
Stewart,  thro  ugh 
the  estate  of  his 
wife  or  otherwise, 
could  get  together 
a  few  thousand 
dollars,  she  d  e- 
manded  his  money 
or  his  life.  Well, 
a  Scotchman  hates 
to  part  with  these, 
especially  his 
money,  and  the 
time  came  when  he 
absolutely  refused 
to  give  either.  He 
left  the  country 
and  went  to  Edin- 
burgh, where  in 
1870  he  was  sued 
for  payment  of  a 
draft  for  $20,000, 
which  he  had  given 
to  Madam  Lynch 
while  living  in  Par- 
aguay. He  resist- 
ed payment  on  the 
ground  of  intimi- 
d  a  t  i  o  n  and  no 


MADAM  LYNCH  AT  THE  AGE  OF  TWENTY. 


PARAGUAY 


419 


value,  and  won  out,  but  the  suit  brought  to  light  the  terrible 
conditions  that  existed  in  Paraguay  during  the  reign  of  Lopez 
and  Lynch. 

Dr.  Stewart  was  somewhat  of  a  soldier  of  fortune,  having 
been  a  first-class  surgeon  with  the  rank  of  captain  in  the 
Crimean  War  of  1855,  and  later  was  sent  out  by  the  English 
War  Department  to  the  River  Plata  and  Argentina  on  a  com- 
mission in  1856.  In  1857,  with  the  consent  of  the  English 
Government,  he  accepted  a  position  with  the  Paraguayan  Gov- 
ernment to  organize  a  military  medical  corps  and  medical  col- 
lege at  Asuncion. 

In  June,  1864,  when  the  long  war  broke  out,  he  was  made 
surgeon-general  and  had  ready  one  hundred  trained  surgeons 
prepared  for  active  duty  in  the  field.  He  was  the  first  doctor 
or  surgeon  outside  of  Edinburgh  to  use  the  Lister  antiseptic, 
which  is  now  in  common  use  the  world  over  in  surgical  opera- 
tions. 

Dr.  Stewart  is  now  eighty  years  of  age  and  lives  in  a  lovely 
big  park  on  the  edge  of  the  city  of  Asuncion ;  he  is  still  quite 
active,  and  is  so  popular  that  he  still  continues  his  practice, 
although  he  has  large  estates.  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  to 


| 


MR.    BOYCE    TAKING    A    PHOTOGRAPH    OF    DR.    STEWARDS    HOUSE, 
ASUNCION,   PARAGUAY. 


420  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

him,  and  was  most  cordially  received  and  entertained.  He  re- 
counted much  of  the  history  of  the  regime  of  Lopez  and  Lynch, 
but  said :  "I  want  you  to  get  your  story  from  the  sworn  state- 
ments of  witnesses  at  the  trial,  a  copy  of  which  I  have,  as 
printed  in  the  court  records." 

I  read  the  entire  proceedings  of  that  historic  trial,  and 
from  the  records  have  condensed  sufficient  of  the  testimony  to 
show  how  awful  the  conditions  were  in  Paraguay  from  1862 
to  1870.  The  first  witness  was  the  Hon.  Charles  Amos  Wash- 
burn,  formerly  United  States  minister  to  Paraguay.  (Mr. 
Washburn's  brother  was  afterward  Secretary  of  State  during 
President  Grant's  second  administration.)  Mr.  Washburn 
swore  : 

"Lopez  was  a  tyrant  so  absolute  and  cruel  that  everybody 
lived  in  perpetual  fear.  Several  Americans,  in  fear  of  their 
lives,  took  refuge  in  my  legation.  I  was  called  upon  by  Lopez 
to  give  them  up,  but  refused;  however,  they  were  taken  by 
force  and  shot.  I  thought  it  very  doubtful  if  I  got  away  with 
my  life.  I  did  not  think  they  would  publicly  execute  me,  but 
I  felt  sure  that  they  would  assassinate  or  poison  me,  as  my 
wife  had  refused  to  meet  Madam  Lynch,  Lopez's  mistress, 
who  presided  over  Lopez's  household  and  social  entertain- 
ments. 

"Many  of  my  official  telegrams  and  letters  to  Washington 
were  taken  by  Lopez  and  never  got  out  of  the  country.  I 
knew  Dr.  Stewart,  having  met  him  when  I  first  reached  Asun- 
cion in  1861.  He  was  the  surgeon-general  of  the  Paraguayan 
army.  I  did  not  know  Madam  Lynch;  she  was  the  favorite 
mistress  ot  Lopez.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  self-control 
and  avaricious;  she  was  very  false  and  an  awful  liar.  She 
was  as  bad  as  she  could  be !" 

The  judge  asked:  "Could  Dr.  Stewart  at  that  time  have 
refused  to  sign  a  check  for  her?" 

Answer — "No.  Neither  Dr.  Stewart  nor  any  one  else,  ex- 
cept at  the  risk  of  his  life.  Dr.  Stewart  was  not  a  favorite  of 
Madam  Lynch.  He  told  me  he  gave  her  a  'bill  of  exchange.' ' 

The  next  witness  was  George  Frederick  Masterman,  of 
London,  who  testified  as  follows : 

"I  went  to  Paraguay  in  October,  1860,  as  chief  military 


PARAGUAY 


421 


apothecary.  After  the  death  of  his  father,  Francisco  Solano 
Lopez  became  President.  Many  influential  people  were  ar- 
rested by  his  orders  and  put  into  prison,  where  they  died  from 
torture,  starvation  or  poison.  The  war  with  Brazil  broke  out 
in  1864,  and  after  the  first  defeat  Lopez  declared  he  was  sur- 
rounded by  traitors.  Many  arrests  were  made  and  the 
tortures  inflicted  were  terrible.  The  flogging  was  done  by  cor- 
porals, each  giving  ten  blows,  and  from  one  hundred  to  two 
hundred  blows  were  given  each  victim  on  the  bare  back.  The 
greater  number  of  those  flogged  died  afterward. 


HOUSE   IN   ASUNCION   ONCE   OCCUPIED   BY    MADAM    LYNCH,    NOW 
USED  AS  BARRACKS. 

"I  was  very  close  to  Lopez  and  knew  him  very  well.  He 
was  very  suspicious,  and  any  one  he  suspected  was  doomed. 
He  was  very  ambitious,  and  never  changed  his  mind.  Every 
person  about  him  seemed  to  spy  on  the  others. 

"I  knew  Madam  Lynch,  who  was  one  of  his  mistresses; 
she  had  great  influence  over  Lopez,  and  always  spoke  against 
Dr.  Stewart  to  him,  telling  him,  among  other  things,  that  Dr. 
Stewart  had  tried  to  poison  him.  It  was  very  dangerous  to 
fall  under  the  displeasure  of  Madam  Lynch  or  Lopez,  and  the 


422  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

only  way  to  avoid  the  greatest  cruelty  was  to  comply  with  their 
wishes  at  once. 

"I  was  arrested  in  1868  on  the  allegation  that  I  was  a  con- 
spirator against  Lopez,  at  the  same  time  that  United  States 
Minister  Washburn  was  accused.  Over  eight  hundred  men, 
women  and  children  were  arrested,  mostly  all  from  the  best 
families,  who  refused  to  meet  or  recognize  Madam  Lynch. 
All  of  them,  with  the  exception  of  six  or  seven,  perished  in 
some  way.  The  judge  was  Father  Roman,  a  priest.  I  was 
flogged,  but  I  told  him  I  was  innocent. 

"He  advised  me  to  confess  anyway,  but  I  refused.  He 
then  called  upon  the  soldiers  to  come  with  their  muskets.  My 
knees  were  drawn  up  and  a  musket  placed  beneath  them; 
then  he  put  his  foot  on  the  back  of  my  neck  and  forced  my 
head  down  to  the  musket,  and  another  musket  was  placed 
across  the  back  of  my  neck  and  tied  to  the  first.  Being  thus 
completely  doubled  up,  I  was  again  urged  to  confess,  but  on 
refusing  I  was  released,  only  to  be  subjected  to  even  greater 
torture  by  being  bound  to  three  muskets.  Again  I  was  urged 
by  Father  Roman  to  confess,  and  being  almost  dead,  and 
knowing  that  even  worse  torture  would  follow,  I  concluded  it 
would  be  better  to  make  a  false  confession  than  to  die  such  a 
miserable  death. 

"Dr.  Stewart  was  also  forced  to  write  a  letter  accusing 
some  people  of  being  concerned  in  the  conspiracy.  People 
were  forced  to  sell  their  property  to  Madam  Lynch  for  paper 
money  that  was  worth  nothing,  to  save  their  lives.  She 
printed  all  the  money  she  wanted  and  everybody  had  to  accept 
it.  I  personally  know  several  people  who  were  so  coerced. 
Dr.  Stewart  told  me  of  Madam  Lynch's  demand  for  a  bill  of 
exchange  for  $20,000,  and  I  advised  him  to  give  it  and  save 
his  life.  The  country  when  I  escaped  was  utterly  devastated 
and  reduced  to  great  misery." 

On  being  interrogated  the  witness  said :  "Yes,  I  knew  of 
the  poisoning  of  Mr.  Atherton,  the  British  merchant,  who  was 
suspected  of  being  connected  with  the  conspiracy  against  Lopez. 
Some  of  the  ladies  of  the  better  class  made  presents  of  rare 
lace  and  jewelry  to  Madam  Lynch,  thus  securing  the  release  of 
members  of  their  families  from  prison." 


PARAGUAY  423 

An  important  piece  of  evidence  was  a  deposition  by  Senora 
Juana  Inocencia  Lopez  de  Barrios,  a  sister  of  Lopez,  which  was 
substantially  as  follows : 

"I  was  married  in  1856,  and  my  husband  was  a  colonel  in 
the  army.  He  joined  the  troops  in  the  field  after  the  war 
began  with  Brazil,  Argentina  and  Uruguay.  He  was  arrested 
and  put  in  prison  in  1868  on  the  false  charge  of  corresponding 
with  a  Brazilian  officer.  He  was  horribly  tortured  in  prison 
because  he  would  not  confess  the  charge  was  true. 

"Whenever  my  brother  was  defeated  in  battle  he  always 
claimed  some  one  had  betrayed  him  and  that  he  was  sur- 
rounded by  traitors.  The  officers  and  others  thus  accused  were 
nearly  always  members  of  the  families  that  refused  to  recog- 
nize Madam  Lynch.  I  was  imprisoned  by  my  brother,  the 
late  President,  because  he  said  Madam  Lynch  told  him  I  had 
favored  my  brother  Marshall  for  President.  I  always  be- 
lieved she  invented  the  charges  against  my  husband  and  broth- 
er because  our  family  could  not  recognize  her.  My  husband, 
my  brother,  Benigno  Lopez,  and  others  were  shot  in  my  pres- 
ence by  order  of  my  brother,  Francisco,  the  President. 

"My  brother  Francisco  brought  Madam  Lynch  to  Para- 
guay in  1856.  Her  bad  reputation  had  preceded  her.  She 
employed  all  her  influence  to  involve  the  country  in  war  and 
worked  incessantly  to  demoralize  the  people.  While  drunk 
she  would  dance  in  the  public  plaza  with  the  common  people 
to  popularize  herself  with  the  lower  classes.  My  father,  who 
was  the  President,  did  not  recognize  her,  I  think  his  hatred 
for  foreigners  had  its  beginning  here.  After  his  death  and 
my  brother  became  President  her  influence  became  very 
strong.  Everybody  feared  her.  She  was  ambitious  and 
greedy.  She  said  a  fortune  teller  had  assured  her  she  would 
be  a  queen  some  day. 

"I  was  put  in  prison  with  my  sister  Rafeala,  being  badly 
treated  and  terribly  tortured ;  I  was  released  to  see  my  hus- 
band and  brother  shot,  and  then  rearrested  and  kept  in  prison 
until  January  of  this  year.  Only  two  months  before  our  es- 
cape, my  brother,  sister  and  myself  were  arrested  and  put  in 
prison.  It-  is  my  opinion  that  Madam  Lynch  invented  the 
story  of  Dr.  Stewart's  attempting  to  poison  the  President. 


424 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


"She  had  Pancha  Garmenda,  a  most  respected  young  lady, 
lanced  to  death;  my  brother  admired  her,  and  Madam  Lynch 
was  jealous  of  her  as  a  rival.  Neither  position  nor  innocence 
could  shield  any  person  from  her  vengeance.  Madam  Lynch 
forced  my  mother  to  give  her  1,000  ounces  of  gold,  which  she 


TOMB  BUILT  BY  LOPEZ  FOR  HIS  OWN  USE, 
BUT  NEVER  FINISHED. 

gave  General  MacMahone,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Washburn  as 
United  States  minister." 

Interrogated — "Did  any  respectable  people  associate  with 
Madam  Lynch?" 

Answer — "Yes,  later  on,  through   fear  of  her  vindictive 


PARAGUAY  425 

character.  Most  of  the  best  families  had  been  wiped  out  of 
existence.  Every  member  of  my  husband's  family  and  my 
own,  except  my  mother,  sister  and  self,  had  been  either  flogged 
or  lanced  to  death,  or  shot. 

"Dr.  Stewart  was  married  to  Senora  Venancia  Triay, 
one  of  the  richest  heiresses  in  Paraguay,  and  by  his  marriage 
to  her  became  owner  of  several  large  and  well-stocked  es- 
tancias.  No  married  woman  owns  property  in  Paraguay." 

Interrogated — "Why  did  your  brother,  the  late  President, 
not  marry  Madam  Lynch  ?  I  believe  it  has  been  testified  that 
they  had  five  children  which  he  recognized." 

Answer — "Because  she  was  already  married  and  has  a 
husband  living,  who  is  a  surgeon  in  the  French  army.  An- 
other reason  would  be  that  she  could  own  no  property  if  mar- 
ried to  my  brother,  and  he  has  placed  millions  in  her  name." 

Interrogated — "Did  your  brother  fear  her?" 

Answer — "Yes,  he  feared  to  let  her  get  out  of  the  country 
while  he  was  alive.  During  the  last  few  months  of  the  hope- 
less war  she  frequently  tried  to  get  away,  but  he  always  kept 
her  with  him  in  the  camp." 

Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Surgeon  Cirillo  Solalindo,  of  Asun- 
cion, who  had  known  Lopez  all  his  life,  and  who  was  with 
him  to  within  fifteen  days  of  the  time  he  was  captured  by  the 
Brazilian  army  and  speared  to  death  while  trying  to  escape, 
testified : 

"I  knew  Lopez  and  Lynch  very  well.  He  domineered  over 
his  father  when  he  was  President.  The  judges  had  to  receive 
their  instructions  from  him  and  decide  as  he  willed  whether 
it  was  according  to  law  or  not.  His  will  was  law. 

"He  used  to  say  to  his  officers  that  there  was  no  use  to 
bring  a  burden  into  the  camp ;  that  they  might  bring  a  prisoner 
or  two  to  give  information,  but  to  kill  the  rest.  He  was 
neither  a  soldier  nor  a  general.  I  thought  him  a  great  coward. 
He  was  very  cunning.  A  simple  list  of  persons  murdered  by 
his  orders  would  fill  a  volume. 

"Madam  Lynch  was  a  married  woman  and  a  Parisian 
prostitute,  who  lived  with  him  as  his  mistress.  She  ^sent  an 
order  to  the  President's  mother  to  come  and  dine  with  her; 
the  old  lady  refused ;  I  was  present  when  the  servant  returned 


426  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA  ' 

with  the  answer.  She  complained  to  Lopez  and  he  cast  his 
mother  into  prison.  After  the  President's  brother  was  shot 
by  his  order,  Madam  Lynch  carried  the  dead  man's  watch. 

"She  took  the  valuable  jewels  of  the  Church  and  had  them 
set  up  for  herself.  To  my  knowledge  she  took  between  3,000 
and  4,000  ounces  of  gold  from  the  treasury  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  gave  it  to  General  MacMahone,  the  new  United 
States  minister,  who  is  here  now  testifying  for  her. 

"The  chickens,  tobacco,  fruit,  etc.,  sent  by  friends  to  the 
soldiers,  she  took,  selling  part,  and  presenting  the  balance,  in 
her  own  name,  to  the  sick  in  the  hospitals.  When  salt  was 
very  scarce  and  worth  its  weight  in  gold,  and  the  soldiers  had 
no  bread,  only  meal  without  salt,  she  had  10,000  bags  belong- 
ing to  the  Government,  and  she  sold  it  at  exorbitant  rates. 
Many  died  for  want  of  salt. 

"There  were  hundreds  of  executions  between  1866  and 
1870.  Lopez  ordered  three  men  shot  because  Madam  Lynch 
reported  to  him  one  of  his  cigars  had  been  stolen  and  her  maid 
had  found  a  soldier  smoking  the  butt  of  a  cigar.  Not  certain 
which  of  the  three  men  was  guilty,  as  all  denied  the  crime,  he 
shot  them  all. 

"I  knew  a  junior  officer  who  spoke  to  Madam  Lynch  on 
the  street  one  day,  asking  her  to  intercede  for  his  superior  of- 
ficer, who  was  under  arrest.  She  promised  to  speak  to  Lopez. 
The  next  morning  the  young  officer  was  arrested  and  shot  for 
having  deigned  to  speak  to  Madam  Lynch.  In  a  big  village 
in  the  center  of  a  forest  Lopez  collected  about  12,000  women 
and  children ;  all  but  450  died  of  starvation." 

If  the  tales  above  told  were  not  corroborated  by  some 
twenty-five  witnesses  under  oath,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
believe  that  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  such  things 
could  happen.  The  only  witness  produced  to  testify  in  favor 
of  this  murderous  wanton,  I  regret  to  say,  was  an  American- 
General  MacMahone,  who  (mis) represented  the  United  States 
as  minister  the  last  year  of  the  war.  He  testified  that  he 
dined  daily  with  this  shameless,  cruel,  criminal  woman  and  her 
half-crazed,  tyrannical  Satanic  paramour — Dictator  Lopez — : 
and  that  they  were  of  good  moral  character  and  well  thought  of 
in  Paraguay ! 


PARAGUAY 


427 


As  I  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  at  the  close  of  the  war 
there  remained  alive  200,000  women  and  25,000  old  men  and 
boys,  out  of  a  population  of  700,000  six  years  before.  The 
country  was  overrun  with  Brazilian  and  Argentinian  soldiers, 
who  did  as  they  pleased.  Nearly  every  virtuous  woman  who 
could  escape,  got  out  of  the  country,  and  only  the  unfortunates 
were  left. 

Ten  women  to  one  old  man  or  boy !  No  morals,  no  laws, 
no  property,  no  rights!  From  such  a  stock  and  from  such  a 
deplorable  condition  Paraguay  started  over  again. 


A  VIEW  ILLUSTRATING  HOW  FEW  MEN  THERE  ARE  IN  PARAGUAY. 

I  will  tell  the  reader  the  plain,  unvarnished  facts  about  this 
country.  At  the  time  I  was  in  Paraguay  there  had  not  been  a 
newspaper  man  from  the  United  States  in  this  "republic"  for 
twenty  years,  and  only  one  American  within  six  months. 

All  telegrams  were  passed  upon  by  the  police  and  it  was 
just  as  well  to  send  letters  to  the  postoffice  unsealed;  they 
would  be  read  anyhow,  and  if  nothing  objectionable  was  found 
they  would  be  allowed  to  go  forward;  otherwise  they  would 
be  destroyed  and  the  writer  placed  under  surveillance  or  ar- 


428  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

rested,  according  to  the  gravity  of  the  contents  of  the  letters. 

The  whole  country  was  under  martial  law — or,  as  they  say 
there,  "in  a  state  of  siege."  Less  than  1,000  people  celebrated 
their  centennial — the  looth  anniversary  of  the  date  when  the 
country  was  freed  from  the  yoke  of  Spain — which  occurred 
while  I  was  in  Asuncion,  and  which  fact,  as  indicating  the 
awful  conditions  of  the  country,  speaks  for  itself. 

I  will  only  add  that  Madam  Lynch  admitted  getting  $250,- 
ooo  in  gold  out  of  the  country  during  the  war,  which  she  held 
as  her  own.  She  died  in  Paris  ten  years  ago — a  poverty- 
stricken,  wretched  old  woman ! 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

PARAGUAY  TODAY. 

HPHERE  are  few  or  no  reliable  statistics  obtainable  on  Para- 
X  guay  for  the  past  forty  years.  The  Government  is  run  as 
a  separate  private  business  by  the  man  who  can  by  force  and 
fraud  elect  himself  President  or  Dictator.  The  people  have 
nothing  to  say  about  governmental  affairs,  and,  so  far  as  I 
could  learn,  cared  only  to  keep  out  of  the  army  and  revolu- 
tions. The  revenues  forced  from  the  people  are  appropriated 
by  each  succeeding  administration,  each  one  getting  away  with 
all  the  money  it  can.  The  President,  of  course,  does  well, 
while  he  can  keep  his  head  on  his  shoulders  and  hold  his 
position. 

The  country  has  no  credit  abroad,  and  the  Government 
cannot  secure  credit  for  anything  at  home ;  therefore  the  for- 
eign and  local  debt  is  small  and  never  paid.  Thirty-five 
million  dollars  in  paper  has  been  issued,  worth  practically  noth- 
ing. This  paper  money  passes  locally  for  eight  cents  on  the 
dollar,  but  has  no  value  outside  the  republic.  They  have  no 
gold  or  silver  coin.  The  Bank  of  the  Republic  is  supposed  to 
have  $700,000  in  gold  to  redeem  $35,000,000  in  paper;  this 
would  make,  if  true,  the  paper  money  worth  two  cents  on  the 
dollar.  The  export  duty  on  green  hides  is  one  dollar  each. 
There  are  300,000  hides  supposed  to  be  exported,  and  the  reve- 
nue derived  added  annually  to  the  redemption  fund.  However, 
as  there  are  4,000,000  cattle  in  the  country,  it  is  unreasonable  to 
believe  that  only  300,000  hides  are  sent  out  each  year.  If  the 
President  of  the  republic  did  not  have  to  pay  the  army  regu- 
larly he  could  soon  get  enough  ahead  to  live  abroad  the  balance 
of  his  life.  The  Government  admits  that  there  is  collected 
$10,000,000  gold  annually  from  imports,  and  as  hides  and 
mate  tea  pay  export  duties,  the  balance  in  favor  of  the  Presi- 
dent ought  to  be  quite  handsome. 

429 


430 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


The  population  is  estimated  at  500,000,  but  there  never 
was  a  reliable  census  taken.  There  is  little  doubt  that  there 
are  three  females  to  one  male.  There  were  three  Presidents, 
or  Dictators,  during  the  first  sixty  years  of  the  republic,  and 
twenty-one  during  the  last  forty  years.  They  had  three  Presi- 
dents during  the  nineteen  months 
previous  to  my  visit,  and  have  had 
two  since  I  left,  up  to  going  to 
press  with  this  book.  Only  two 
Presidents  in  the  last  forty  years 
served  out  their  full  terms. 

There  is  a  Congress  composed 
of  two  houses,  the  same  as  in  the 
United  States.  When  the  mem- 
bers of  Congress  do  not  do  what 
the  President  wants  them  to  he 
puts  them  in  jail.  One  day,  while 
I  was  in  Asuncion,  all  he  could 
catch  of  them  were  jailed.  What 
became  of  them  no  one  knows. 
They  are  supposed  to  have  a  con- 
stitution, and  it  must  be  as  good  as 
new,  for  they  never  use  it.  The 
election  of  the  last  two  Presidents, 
previous  to  my  visit,  will  illustrate 
the  system. 

A  few  years  ago,  an  ignorant 
but  well-drilled  Paraguayan  sol- 
dier, Albino  Jara,  had  risen  to  be 
the  colonel  in  command  of  the 
army — the  highest  military  posi- 
tion. No  President  would  last  a 
minute  without  the  army,  which 
I  consists  of  2,000  regulars  and  3,000 

^1|HR  — not  so  regular — and  600  police. 

The  rotation  in  office  is  from  Min- 
ister of  War  to  President,  and 
from  Commander  of  the  Army  to 
Minister  of  War.  Of  course,  four 


THE  LATE  PRESIDENT 
JARA,  DICTATOR  OF 
PARAGUAY. 


PARAGUAY 


431 


SOLDIERS  ON  PARADE,  ASUNCION,  PARAGUAY. 


years  is  a  long  time  to  wait  to  become  President,  when  life 
is  so  short.  Jara  soon  said  to  the  Minister  of  War,  "Why  don't 
you  do  it  now?"  Meaning  run  the  President  off.  He,  Jara, 
would  then  be  Minister  of  War.  So  they  prepared  the  resig- 
nation of  the  President,  they  surrounded  him  with  half  a 
dozen  revolvers,  and  asked  him  if  he  did  not  think  he  ought 
to  resign  for  the  good  of  his  country?  He  thought  the  sug- 
gestion well  grounded.  He  did  not  need  to  call  a  stenog- 
rapher to  write  out  his  resignation,  but  signed  the  one  already 
prepared  for  him,  and  "beat  it"  for  a  safer  country.  The 
Minister  of  War  was  duly  elected  President  and  Jara  became 
Minister  of  War.  Events  then  ran  along  smoothly  for  a 
while.  Then  one  day  Jara  got  drunker  than  usual  and  con- 
cluded to  repeat  the  order  of  exercises,  and  on  the  i8th 
day  of  January,  1911,  backed  by  the  2,000  regular  army 
and  600  police,  he  elected  himself  not  only  President  of  the 
republic,  but  also  general  in  command  of  the  army  and  of  the 
police.  That  seemed  to  be  rather  overdoing  it,  and  not  accord- 


432 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


ing  to  precedent,  and  it  caused  a  split  in  the  army.  Then  the 
killing  began,  while  all  the  rest  of  the  male  population  of 
Asuncion  and  Paraguay  "lit  out"  for  the  woods  until  the  revo- 
lution should  be  over. 

The  foreign  citizens  not  subject  to  kidnaping  during  war 
or  revolution — and  there  are  30,000  in  Paraguay,  mostly  in 
Asuncion — just  close  up  their  stores  and  banks  and  shops  in 
haste,  and  stay  indoors  until  such  time  as  the  shooting  and 
executions  are  over. 

As  I  said  before,  there  was  a  split  in  the  army  and  a  nasty 
revolution  that  lasted  for  two  months.  In  the  first  battle  700 
were  killed,  no  prisoners  taken  on  either  side,  and  every 
wounded  man,  unable  to  get  away,  was  clubbed  with  the  butt 
of  the  rifle  or  bayoneted  to  death.  There  was  no  use  for 
hospitals,  nor  did  they  have  any,  or  any  surgeons,  when  the 
war  began.  After  awhile,  however,  the  Salvation  Army  (you 
find  them  all  over  South  America  doing  splendid  work),  got 
permission  to  establish  a  hospital.  I  was  told  by  one  of  their 


SOLDIERS  OF  PARAGUAY  ON  THE  MARCH. 


PARAGUAY 


433 


nurses  that  they  picked  up  a  boy,  supposed  to  be  dead,  on  the 
battlefield  and  brought  him  back  to  life.  He  turned  out  to  be 
a  revolutionist  and  was  taken  out  of  the  hospital  and  shot. 
He  was  fourteen  years  old. 

The  system  of  keeping  soldiers  from  deserting  during  a 
fight  is  purely  Paraguayan,  as  I  remarked  before,  and  was 
first  put  into  effect  by  Lopez  II.  Each  man  is  under  orders  to 
shoot  any  one  seen  running  away.  It  is  quite  effective,  as  a 
soldier  under  this  system  is  in  greater  danger  if  he  tries  to 
desert  than  if  he  stays  in  battle.  Of  course,  the  only  soldiers 
paid  are  those  working  for  the  Government,  and  the  others 
soon  get  tired,  and  when  the  ammunition  they  have  on  hand  is 
used  up,  they  always  give  up  the  fight  and  "light  out"  for  some 
other  country — Argentina,  Brazil,  or  Uruguay.  Over  100,000 


THE  HOTEL  DINING-ROOM  IN  WHAT  WAS 

ONCE  THE  PALACE  OF  LOPEZ, 

ASUNCION,  PARAGUAY. 


434 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Paraguayans  are  now  living  out  of  their  country.  They  do 
not  dare  go  back.  All  revolutionists  caught  are  shot,  and  "a 
state  of  siege,"  which  means  all  laws  are  suspended,  gives  the 
President  a  good  chance  to  execute  all  his  enemies,  on  the  pre- 
text that  they  are  revolutionists. 

Under  these  conditions,  as  one  may  imagine,  the  people 
are  rather  nervous.  Some  one  shot  off  half  a  dozen  cannon 
crackers,  smuggled  into  Asuncion,  and  over  one-half  the  men 
could  not  be  found  for  two  weeks.  Of  course,  the  men  do  no 
work  and  are  hardly  missed  by  the  women,  who  do  all  the  work. 
I  will  give  the  reader  an  illustration  of  how  wrought  up  and 
nervous  the  people  are.  Although  Asuncion  has  80,000  people 
(it  had  100,000  five  years  ago),  the  city  has  no  sewers  or  city 
water,  but  depends  upon  wells.  Hence  I  always  drank  Apol- 
linaris  water.  Upon  one  occasion  a  waiter  opened  a  bottle  for 
me  that  was  so  highly  charged  with  gas  it  went  off  like  a  gun, 
and  half  the  people  in  the  dining-room  jumped  up,  and  some  of 
them  ran  out.  Naturally  I  was  a  good  deal  amused. 

When  martial  law  is  not  in  force — which  is  seldom — the 
judges  must  do  as  they  are  ordered  by  the  President,  or  lose 
their  positions,  and  usually  their  heads  at  the  same  time.  \Vhile 


A  STREET  CAR  IN  ASUNCION,  PARAGUAY. 


PARAGUAY  435 

I  was  in  Asuncion  the  editor  and  publisher  of  the  oldest  paper 
objected  to  President  Jara  changing  the  date  of  the  centennial 
anniversary  of  the  republic,  and  his  paper  was  not  allowed  to 
be  printed.  He  was  taken  out  of  the  city  by  some  soldiers, 
without  any  kind  of  trial — court  martial  or  otherwise.  He 
finally  grew  exhausted  from  walking,  and  told  them  if  they 
were  going  to  shoot — to  shoot  him  then  and  there.  The  sol- 
diers came  back  without  him.  That  is  all  we  could  learn. 

I  had  a  long  talk  with  President  Jara  at  the  Government's 
palace.  He  wore  his  uniform,  and  is  a  well-put-up  soldier. 
He  knows  nothing  about  governmental  affairs,  and  can  hardly 
read  or  write.  He  told  me  he  was  very  anxious  to  establish 
relations  with  foreign  countries.  They  now  have  members  of 
legation  from  but  three  countries,  the  United  States  being  one 
of  these.  President  Jara  also  said  they  desired  foreign  immi- 
gration. I  told  him  he  was  not  likely  to  get  many  people  to 
come  to  Paraguay.  He  asked  me  why.  I  told  him  life  in  his 
country  was  too  uncertain.  He  assured  me  that  he  would 
now  give  the  people  good  government,  and  that  there  would 
be  no  more  revolutions.  I  told  him  that  the  health  of  the 
people  must  be  looked  after,  that  the  mortality  among  children 
was  too  great,  four  having  died  in  one  block,  the  day  before, 
of  diphtheria,  because  there  was  no  diphtheritic  serum  in 
Asuncion.  He  wanted  to  know  "what  that  was."  And  this 
was  the  President  of  the  so-called  republic,  with  500,000  help- 
less people  at  his  mercy ! 

Deaths  among  children  equal  forty  per  cent,  largely  from 
blood  diseases,  inherited  from  their  parents.  There  are  few 
marriages,  the  average  of  the  estimate  I  made  of  illegitimacy 
among  Paraguayans  (not  foreigners)  being  ninety  per  cent.  I 
was  in  one  village  where  the  population  consisted  of  six  men, 
thirty-seven  women  and  forty- four  children.  They  have  a  few 
hospital  buildings,  but  these  are  closed.  They  have  well  equipped 
laboratories  for  medical  and  scientific  purposes  without  any 
one  in  charge.  There  are  few  schools,  and  the  university  is 
used  as  military  barracks.  The  university  building  was  for- 
merly the  residence  of  Madam  Lynch. 

There  is  not  much  drunkenness,  because  the  people  are  too 
poor  to  buy  cane  rum.  There  are  few  holidays,  there  being 


436 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


only  six  national  holidays.  Little  attention  is  paid  to  Church 
holidays  or  the  Church.  The  nominal  State  Church  is  the 
Roman  Catholic.  It  is  promised  State  financial  aid,  but  is 
unable  to  collect  the  same. 

I  found  one  old  American,  still  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  drawing  a  pension  from  Uncle  Sam  as  a  Mexican 
War  veteran,  who  was  living  with  about  twenty  women  and 


A  RURAL   HOME  IN   PARAGUAY.        THERE  ARE  THREE   WOMEN   TO 
ONE  MAN  EVERYWHERE  IN  THIS  COUNTRY. 


had  a  large  family  of  children  and  grandchildren.  They  were 
all  seemingly  happy.  He  had  been  in  the  country  forty  years, 
had  prospered,  but  never  did  a  day's  work.  The  women  do 
practically  all  the  work.  There  are  ten  Americans  in  Para- 
guay, so  far  as  our  consul  could  learn,  but  only  one  had 
registered  and  signified  his  intention  of  returning  to  the 
United  States.  The  people  here  have  a  blind  faith  in  the 


PARAGUAY 


437 


United  States,  and  believe  that  if  we  would  only  intercede,  all 
their  troubles  (which  are  purely  internal)  would  end.  Minister 
Morgan  (now  transferred  to  Brazil)  was  credited  to  both 
Uruguay  and  Paraguay.  He  made  his  headquarters  in 
Montevideo,  Uruguay.  He  happened  to  visit  Paraguay  offi- 
cially once  during  a  revolution,  and  both  sides  told  so  many 
stories  about  how  he  had  come  to  take  their  part,  that  each  side 
to  the  quarrel  got  frightened  and  ceased  fighting. 

The  interests  of  Uncle  Sam — and  they  are  not  many — when 
I  was  there  were  being  looked  after  by  United  States  Consul 
Cornelius  Ferris  from  Fort  Collins,  Colorado.  He  had  his 
wife  and  daughter  with  him.  They  were  living  a  very  isolated 
life.  .  Only  ten  Governments  out  of  forty-eight  in  the  world 
have  any  representation  of  any  kind  here.  Three  of  these  ten 
representatives  brought  their  families ;  two  of  them  have  since 
sent  their  families  home,  and  the  seven  single  men,  or  grass- 
widowers,  live  as  the  natives  do. 

United  States  Consul  Ferris  is  one  of  the  best  men  I  have 
ever  met  in  the  service.  He  secured  for  me  a  permit  to  leave 
the  country.  I  never  had  to  secure  such  a  document  before, 
except  in  Russia,  during  the  war  with  Japan.  In  Paraguay 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  liberty  of  speech  or  press.  However, 


RESIDENCE  OF  UNITED  STATES  CONSUL  FERRIS,  AT 
ASUNCION,   PARAGUAY. 


438  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

there  is  not  much  crime.  The  people  are  simply  lazy,  and 
life  is  so  easy  and  their  wants  so  few  it  vwould  be  rather  too 
much  trouble  to  murder  or  steal.  There  is  no  jealousy  or 
competition,  even  in  love  affairs.  Even  the  funerals  are  simple. 
When  a  child  dies,  for  instance,  the  mother  puts  the  coffin  on 
her  head  and  trudges  along  to  the  cemetery,  sitting  down  fre- 
quently to  rest,  smoke  and  talk.  They  seem  not  to  mind  death. 
Life  for  them  is  short  and  a  thing  not  particularly  prized. 

It  seems  a  sin  and  a  crime  that  this  beautiful  country,  with 
rich  soil,  normal  and  sure  rainfall,  midway  between  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific,  with  an  elevation  of  2,500  feet  above  sea 
level,  producing  nearly  every  variety  of  food  products  raised 
in  South  or  North  America,  should  be  brought  to  such  a 
wretched  state.  It  is  so  easy  to  gain  a  living  from  the  soil,  and 
so  little  work  is  necessary,  that  the  people  do  practically  noth- 
ing. Very  fine  oranges  grow  everywhere  and  are  sold  four 
for  one  cent,  while  bananas  are  plentiful  and  of  very  fine 
flavor,  and  are  but  twenty-five  cents  a  bunch.  Good  tobacco 
grows  wild  and  uncultivated.  Ten  cigars  can  be  bought  for 
one  cent.  Indian  corn  grows  wherever  it  is  planted.  Corn  is 
the  chief  grain  diet  of  the  people.  There  is  fresh  green  grass, 
sweet  the  year  around,  and  cattle,  particularly  free  from  foot 
and  mouth  disease,  roam  everywhere.  Yet  the  people  will  not 
make  butter.  Too  much  work.  The  reason  cattle  and  sheep 
do  so  well  is  on  account  of  the  rolling,  well-drained  country 
and  elevation,  which  gives  cool  nights,  and  the  absence  of 
swamps.  Three  crops  of  every  kind  of  vegetable  are  grown 
every  year,  if  wanted  or  needed.  Some  wheat  is  grown,  also 
oats,  but  grain  crops  are  too  much  trouble. 

I  told  my  servant  to  go  to  the  wonderful  market  in  Asun- 
cion and  make  a  list  of  100  different  things  to  eat  offered  for 
sale.  He  did  so,  and  said  he  could  have  made  a  much  longer 
list.  The  four  chief  sources  of  income  are  from  the  exportation 
of  yerba  (or  mate)  tea,  quebracho  wood,  oranges,  and  especially 
the  products  of  cattle — sun-dried  meat,  meat  extracts  and  hides. 

Yerba,  or  mate,  or,  as  it  is  frequently  called,  Paraguay  tea, 
takes  the  place  of  tea  or  coffee  with  the  natives  of  Paraguay, 
Argentina  and  Uruguay,  and  is  extensively  sold  all  over  South 
America  and  to  some  extent  in  Europe.  The  largest  company 


PARAGUAY  439 

in  Paraguay  is  capitalized  for  $3,500,000  gold  and  owns  5,585,- 
ooo  acres  of  forest  where  the  yerba  tree  or  bush  grows.  The 
tree  is  from  six  to  twelve  feet  high,  and  the  green  leaves,  with 
the  small  branches,  are  pulled  off  every  fourth  year.  They 
are  then  raked  up  and  put  into  bunches,  and  look  much  as  if  one 
had  been  raking  up  the  yard  in  the  fall.  They  are  then  dried 
by  placing  them  in  a  building,  with  a  fire  made  from  a  par- 
ticular kind  of  wood  outside  the  building,  the  heat  being  con- 
ducted under  the  floor  and  coming  up  through  the  opening 
over  which  the  leaves  are  scattered.  Great  care  must  be  taken 
in  drying  the  leaves,  or  the  tea  may  be  spoiled.  The  leaves  are 
then  easily  separated  from  the  small  branches  and  are  taken  to  a 
mill,  where  they  are  ground  into  a  flour  and  put  up  in  two- 
pound  packages.  The  Paraguay  Industrial  Society  puts  up 
12,000,000  pounds  a  year,  and  it  sells  at  the  factory  at  wholesale 
for  twenty-five  cents  for  two  pounds.  The  tea  is  made  by 
putting  some  of  the  powder-like  flour  into  a  cup  and  pouring 
very  hot  water  over  it,  then  it  is  sucked  through  a  tube  called  a 
bombilla,  about  eight  inches  long,  with  a  strainer  at  one  end  to 
prevent  the  small  particles  reaching  the  mouth.  It  is  rather 
bitter,  but  I  liked  it.  It  is  not  used  with  sugar.  One  English 
doctor  told  me  he  had  used  it  himself  for  forty  years,  and  con- 
sidered it  very  much  less  injurious  to  head  or  heart  than  tea  or 
coffee,  while  it  gave  great  strength  and  endurance  to  the  nerves. 
The  industry  gives  employment  to  thousands  of  natives.  It  is 
nearly  all  "piece  work." 

There  is  no  census  on  the  cattle  industry,  but  the  average 
of  six  estimates  I  took  showed  that  there  were  4,000,000  head  in 
all  Paraguay,  and  I  consider  this  moderate.  Of  course,  the  dis- 
tance from  markets  for  the  products  and  the  crude  way  of  doing 
things,  as  well  as  the  lack  of  breeding  the  cattle  up,  does  not 
place  the  business  where  it  ought  to  be,  yet  the  average  value  for 
three-year-old  cattle  is  $15  per  head.  The  total  annual  value  is 
about  $15,000,000,  and  of  course,  is  the  chief  source  of  wealth. 
Beef  extract  and  dried  or  "jerked"  beef  are  made,  no  fresh 
meat  being  exported^  owing  to  lack  of  ice.  There  are  no  cold 
storage  plants  in  the  country  and  no  refrigerator  cars  or  ships. 
Hides  are  exported  green. 

Lumber  or  timber  is  a  big  industry.     There  are  many  fine 


440 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


hard  woods,  but  they  are  so  heavy,  and  transportation  from 
the  interior  is  so  limited  and  expensive,  not  much  is  taken  out. 
However,  two  companies  from  the  United  States  are  taking 
out  the  quebracho  timber,  used  in  tanning  leather.  In  some 
cases  they  ship  the  logs,  in  others  they  reduce  the  wood  to  saw- 
dust, and  in  still  other  places  they  make  the  tannery  extract, 
or  liquor,  on  the  ground.  The  last  method  seems  the  most 
reasonable.  I  understand  the  Americans  are  doing  well,  and 
no  doubt  will  do  so  as  long  as  they  can  keep  in  with  the  Gov- 
ernment or  change  as  fast  as  the  administrations  do. 

Fine,  sweet  oranges  grow  everywhere,  as  I  have  stated, 
and  every  boat  going  down  the  river  is  loaded  with  them.  The 
new  all-rail  connection,  from  Asuncion  through  Paraguay 
and  the  Entre  Rios  country  to  Buenos  Aires,  will  deliver 
oranges  and  all  tropical  fruits  to  the  seacoast  ports  in  two 
days.  This  puts  Paraguay  in  connection  with  the  outside 
world.  Transportation  by  boats  is  the  worst  I  ever  used,  the 
food  is  horrid,  the  beds  dirty  and  vermin-infested.  Any  per- 
son going  to  Paraguay  should  go  by  train. 

Land  is  cheap  in  Paraguay,  especially  in  the  Chaco  coun- 
try, which  was  supposed  until  recently  to  be  only  swampy. 


RAILWAY  STATION  AT  ASUNCION,   PARAGUAY. 


PARAGUAY 


441 


BAGS  OF  ORANGES  READY  FOR  SHIPMENT  IN   PARAGUAY. 

The  Chaco  was  formerly  occupied  by  a  very  bad  lot  of  In- 
dians, who  killed  off  the  settlers.  This  condition  is  much 
better  now,  and  I  found  a  number  of  prosperous  settlements  in 
the  Chaco  and  very  fine  grazing  lands  for  cattle. 

Paraguay  is  not  today  a  "white  man's"  country,  and  will 
not  become  so  until  Argentina  and  Brazil  take  the  country, 
divide  it  up  and  give  it  a  good  Government.  After  the  war 
with  Brazil  and  Argentina,  Paraguay  acknowledged  a  debt  of 
$300,000,000  to  Brazil  and  $200,000,000  to  Argentina.  There 
has  never  been  a  cent  of  principal  or  interest  paid.  Brazil  says 
to  Argentina,  "You  take  Paraguay  and  pay  to  us  the  debt  she 
owes  us."  Argentina  says  to  Brazil,  "You  take  Paraguay  and 
pay  us  what  is  due  us."  And  there  it  stands.  It  is  the  case 
of  a  man  owing  so  much  he  cannot  fail.  The  people  of 
Paraguay  cannot  govern  themselves.  They  have  lost  the  basis 
or  unit  on  which  a  Government  is  built — that  of  the  family.  The 


442  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

sooner  the  country  is  taken  over  and  properly  governed  the 
better  for  the  poor  people  who  live  there  in  sin  and  ignorance, 
and  the  better  for  the  reputation  of  every  other  republic  in 
South  America,  for  the  people  of  other  nations  read  about  the 
never-ending  troubles  and  chaotic  conditions  of  Paraguay,  and 
apply  the  impression  gained  to  all  South  America,  which  is  not 
deserved. 

Good-by,  Paraguay !  You  are  a  plague  spot,  you  are  hope- 
less, and  you  ought  to  be  quarantined.  The  sooner  your  name 
disappears  from  the  map  the  better  for  the  remainder  of  the 
world ! 


BRAZIL 

Area,  3,218,991  square  miles,  a  little  larger  than  the  entire 
United  States,  without  Alaska — Its  Atlantic  seacoast  line 
is  nearly  4,000  miles  in  length,  its  extreme  width  from  east 
to  west  being  nearly  3,500  miles— Population,  about  22,- 
000,000,  between  one-third  and  one-half  white — Its  natural 
resources  are  almost  incalculable  in  extent,  consisting  of 
all  field  grains,  coffee,  rubber,  sugar,  tobacco,  cotton,  live 
stock,  yerba  mate,  cacao,  nuts,  fruits,  fine  woods,  and  dia- 
mond, gold  and  iron  mines — Exports  (1910),  $310,006,438 ; 
imports,  $235,574,837— Exports  to  United  States  (ip//), 
$100,867,184;  imports  from  United  States,  $27,240,146— 
Army,  peace  footing,  28,000,  war  footing,  100,000,  esti- 
mated; navy,  38  ships,  with  8,800  officers  and  men- 
Capital,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  population,  1,000,000. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 


BRAZIL  S  COFFEE  INDUSTRY. 

IT  WAS  a  pleasant  noonday  when  I  left  Montevideo,  Uru- 
guay, for  Santos,  Brazil,  and  I  was  reminded  of  the  evening 
when,  on  my  way  to  South  Africa,  I  sailed  from  the  Bay  of 
Naples,  Italy,  for  Mombasa,  Africa,  via  the  Suez  Canal;  for 
Montevideo  is  a  haven  for  the  Italian  immigrant,  who,  with  his 
picturesque  raiment,  is  everywhere  present  in  that  city,  finding 
there  the  balmy  air  of  his  native  land  and  general  conditions 
that  exactly  suit  him. 

The  distance  from  Montevideo  to  Santos  is  about  1,000 
miles,  and  though  there  are  a  number  of  ports  between  these 
two  places,  I  decided  to  go  to  Santos,  and  then  work  inland, 
south,  north,  and  east,  because  the  other  ports  are  small,  inac- 
cessible to  large  ships,  and  in  some  instances  not  connected  with 
the  interior  by  railways. 

Looking  at  the  map  of  South  America  one  would  naturally 
suppose  that  the  coast  from  Montevideo  to  Santos  is  a  smooth, 
unbroken  line  that  comes  down  to  the  water  in  a  gradual  de- 
cline— but  it  is  really  just  the  opposite,  being  much  like  the 

443 


444 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


coast  of  Labrador  at  the  entrance  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence, 
or  the  banks  along  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 

The  rocky  headlands  of  the  mountains,  sometimes  bare  and 
sometimes  clad  with  verdure,  come  right  down  to  the  water 
line,  and  in  many  places  project  far  out  into  the  sea.  Sub- 
merged in  some  places,  the  highlands  crop  up  in  others,  form- 
ing little  islands  that  make  this  rugged  coast  dangerous  to 
navigation  and  necessitating  many  lighthouses  along  the  shore. 

For  nearly  three  days  we  were  practically  lost  to  the  world, 
for  owing  to  the  fact  that  two  wireless  telegraph  companies  were 
desirous  of  operating  in  Brazil,  and  the  Government  had  not 
yet  decided  from  which  it  could  get  the  more  money,  neither 
was  doing  much  business,  so  our  ship  could  not  connect  with 
land. 

But  the  cable  service  was  evidently  working  nicely,  for  on 
our  arrival  at  Santos  we  found  the  American  consul,  Mr.  J. 
White,  and  his  assistant,  Mr.  J.  W.  Reves,  awaiting  us  on  the 
docks,  Mr.  Morgan,  the  American  minister  to  Uruguay  and 


A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  CITY  AND 


BRAZIL 


445 


Paraguay,  who  has  since  been  promoted  to  the  position  of 
ambassador  to  Brazil,  having  cabled  that  we  were  en  route. 

This  example  of  courtesy  on  the  part  of  our  representatives 
abroad  is  only  a  sample  of  the  consideration  Uncle  Sam's  ex- 
cellent diplomatic  corps  in  South  America  gives  to  the  traveler 
from  the  United  States  in  this  land,  and  it  goes  far  to  make  a 
tour  of  the  country  pleasant,  and  incidentally  gives  our  nation 
prestige  in  the  eyes  of  our  South  American  cousins. 

My  introduction  to  Santos  in  particular  and  Brazil  in  gen- 
eral was  further  facilitated  by  a  letter  given  me  in  Buenos 
Aires  by  Senor  Domicio  da  Gama,  then  minister  from  Brazil 
to  Argentina,  and  now  ambassador  from  Brazil  to  the  United 
States.  In  brief,  he  requested  the  representatives  of  the  Brazil- 
ian Government  to  accord  me  the  same  consideration  that  is 
shown  foreign  guests  of  the  nation,  which,  in  addition  to  many 
other  courtesies,  admitted  our  baggage  without  inspection. 

This  last-named  courtesy  may  seem  of  small  importance  to 
the  reader,  but  to  the  traveler  in  Brazil  it  is  of  some  conse- 


HARBOR  OF  SANTOS,  BRAZIL. 


446  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

quence.  Once  a  foreigner  has  passed  a  port  of  entry  in  the 
United  States  he  may  go  from  State  to  State  without  molesta- 
tion hy  custom  officials,  but  the  twenty  States  of  Brazil  have, 
or  are  permitted  to  use,  an  authority  greater  than  we  are  ac- 
customed to,  and  "States'  rights"  in  Brazil  is  no  theory,  but  an 
actual  fact,  even  extending  to  questioning  the  foreigner  as  he 
passes  from  one  State  to  another. 

It  is  odd  how  the  ideas  one  gains  of  a  country  during  school 
days  will  cling  to  him  until,  in  after  years,  he  visits  that  coun- 
try and  has  them  rudely  jolted  by  the  advances  that  have  been 
made  since  he  was  struggling  with  geographical  boundaries  and 
descriptions  under  the  schoolmaster's  eyes. 
.  This  greatest  republic  of  the  South  American  continent, 
which  is  as  large  as  all  Europe,  and  larger  than  the  United 
States,  has  always  been  an  object  of  interest  to  me — not 
alone  from  the  stories  I  had  read  as  a  boy  of  the  wonderful 
parrots,  its  birds  of  paradise,  big  snakes,  its  great  rivers,  its 
savage  Indians,  and  other  wonders ;  but  because  it  is  the  only 
political  division  of  the  Western  Hemisphere  that  ever  had  a 
monarch  of  its  own,  and,  settled  a  century  before  colonization 
was  attempted  in  the  United  States,  was  over  a  century  be- 
hind us  in  establishing  a  republic,  and  copied  our  Constitution 
almost  verbatim  when  it  shook  off  its  royal  family.  Like  the 
United  States,  it  imported  the  blacks  of  Africa  as  slaves,  and 
like  the  United  States,  it  freed  them  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen, 
without  compensation  to  their  owners,  the  advisability  of 
which  act  is  questioned  to  this  day,  even  the  blacks  themselves 
agreeing  it  would  have  been  better  for  them,  as  well  as  their 
former  owners,  had  abolition  been  effected  gradually  and  with 
compensation. 

Santos,  the  port  of  entry  to  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  was 
founded  by  Braz  Cubas  in  1543.  It  now  has  a  population  of 
about  100,000,  and  is  one  of  the  busiest  places  in  South  Amer- 
ica. The  harbor  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  best  of  the 
entire  continent,  being  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty  feet  deep, 
and  its  docks  are  three  miles  long.  These  are  owned  by  a  pri- 
vate corporation,  and  afford  every  facility  for  loading  and  un- 
loading vessels.  Solid  trains  of  cars  are  run  upon  the  docks 
and  electric  cranes  transfer  freight  from  cars  to  ships. 


BRAZIL 


447 


LOADING  COFFEE  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES   MARKET, 
SANTOS,    BRAZIL. 

The  commonest  sight  in  Santos  is  coffee.  No  matter  which 
way  you  turn  or  where  you  go  coffee  looms  up  in  some  form  or 
other.  If  you  walk  down  a  street  you  see  drays  going  by 
laden  with  sacks  of  the  berry;  if  you  go  near  the  railroads 
you  see  train  loads  of  it ;  if  you  go  to  the  docks  you  see  ships 
being  laden  with  it;  if  you  go  into  a  cafe  it  is  served  to  you 
instead  of  the  drinks  usually  found  in  such  places.  You  smell 
coffee  everywhere. 

Perspiring  teamsters  and  laborers,  who  in  our  United  States 
would  hunt  for  the  "biggest  and  coolest  beer  in  town"  slip  into 
some  cafe  with  a  sanded  floor  for  a  "swig"  of  coffee.  Ladies 
and  gentlemen  out  for  a  promenade  stop  in  some  cafe  and  sip 
coffee  instead  of  ice  cream  soda.  The  cocktail  and  the  highball 
are  practically  unknown,  and  conviviality  finds  good  fellowship 
in  the  coffee  cup. 

If  all  this  excites  the  reader  to  wonder,  it  is  explained  when 
he  learns  that  practically  all  of  the  coffee  of  the  Western  world 
comes  from  Brazil,  and  most  of  that  supply  comes  from  the 


448 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


State  of  Sao  Paulo.  So,  you  see,  a  very  large  percentage  of  the 
coffee  for  the  entire  world  goes  through  the  city  of  Santos  on 
its  way  to  the  tables  of  millions  of  people  in  far-away  lands. 

Coffee  is  said  to  be  native  to  Abyssinia,  and  its  name  is 
derived  from  the  Arabic  qahwe,  pronounced  "kahveh"  by  the 
Turks.  It  has  been  known  to  history  since  the  third  century, 
but  up  to  the  fifteenth  century  it  was  eaten  in  the  form  of  paste, 
the  dilution  to  a  liquid  form  spreading  gradually  until  it  became 
the  common  practice. 


A  STREET  IN   SANTOS,   BRAZIL. 

There  are  two  stories  concerning  its  introduction  into  South 
America,  one  saying  a  deserter  brought  some  seeds  from  Cay- 
enne to  Para  in  1761,  the  other  that  a  Belgian  monk  introduced 
some  plants  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  in  1774.  Perhaps  both  stories 
are  true,  but  up  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  coffee  was 
only  considered  as  a  medicine  to  stimulate  the  nerves,  and  was 
to  be  found  only  in  drug  stores.  About  1835  the  people  of 
South  America  discovered  that  coffee  was  used  as  a  beverage 


Ks*  >/ 


29 


A  COFFEE  TREE  IN  BLOSSOM^  BRAZIL. 


450 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


in  other  countries  and  extensive  cultivation  of  this  valuable 
berry  was  begun. 

Coffee  thrives  in  a  hot,  moist  climate,  and  on  rich,  well- 
drained  soil,  and  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  possessing  the  proper 
qualities,  has  become  the  coffee  garden  of  the  world.  The  two 
things  most  injurious  to  a  coffee  tree's  growth  are  cold  or  hot 
dry  winds. 

While  there  are  about  eighty  species  of  the  coffee-berry  tree, 
only  three  are  raised  in  Brazil,  and  of  these  the  common  coffee 
tree  greatly  predominates  because  of  its  general  excellence. 
The  plant  is  propagated  from  seed,  which  is  usually  planted  in 
a  nursery,  and  when  the  plants  are  about  fifteen  inches  high 
they  are  transplanted,  being  placed  in  the  ground  from  ten  to 
fifteen  feet  apart  and  protected  from  the  tropical  sun.  As  a 
rule,  the  shrub  first  flowers  in  its  third  year,  and  bears  a  small 
quantity,  but  not  until  its  fifth  year  does  it  bear  any  considerable 
amount  of  berries.  At  twenty  years  the  tree  is  in  its  prime, 
although  I  saw  trees  seventy-five  years  old  still  bearing.  The 
flower  is  quite  pretty,  but  its  life  is  seldom  over  twenty- four 


COFFEE  BERRIES  ON  THE  TREES,  BRAZIL. 


BRAZIL 


451 


hours,  and  as  soon  as  it  withers  and  drops  the  green  berry 
begins  to  form,  and  it  usually  ripens  in  about  seven  months, 
when  it  strongly  resembles  a  ripe  cherry. 

The  Arabs  allow  the  berries  to  remain  on  the  tree  until  they 
ripen  and  fall,  but  I  observed  that  on  all  the  plantations,  or 
fasendas,  I  visited  in  Brazil,  the  picking  was  done  by  hand.  A 
large  sheet  was  placed  under  each  tree,  and  then  men  mounted 
ladders,  or  standing  on  the  ground,,  carefully  pulled  all  the 
berries  from  the  trees,  allowing  them  to  fall  upon  the  sheets. 
From  these  they  are  gathered  up  and  deftly  sifted  by  women 


PICKING  COFFEE  ON  A  PLANTATION,  BRAZIL. 

and  girls,  to  remove  stems,  leaves,  etc.,  after  which  they  are 
placed  in  baskets  and  hauled  elsewhere  for  further  treatment. 

The  berries,  as  gathered,  each  contain  normally  two  seeds 
or  coffee  beans.  Each  bean  is  enveloped  by  a  thin,  delicate 
silver  skin,  and  outside  this  by  a  parchment,  and  both  are  in- 
closed in  the  fleshy  pulp  of  the  outer  portion  of  the  fruit.  All 
of  these  coverings  have  to  be  removed  to  prepare  the  beans  for 
consumption. 

The  berries  when  brought  from  the  field  are  placed  in  large 


452 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


tanks  and  washed  there  in  running  water,  after  which  they  are 
run  through  a  "pulper"  and  then  into  a  tank  where  the  pulps 
float  off,  leaving  the  seeds.  These  latter  are  then  put  through 
a  process  of  fermentation  to  remove  the  parchment,  after  which 
they  are  put  into  vats  and  washed,  and  then  they  are  spread 
out  upon  a  stone  or  concrete  floor  to  dry.  The  bean  is  still 
enveloped  in  its  silver  skin,  which  is  removed  by  winnowing 
and  rubbing,  and  then  it  is  ready  to  be  run  through  the  sorter, 
which  grades  the  beans  according  to  size.  The  product  is  then 
ready  for  weighing  and  sacking,  needing  only  to  be  roasted  and 
ground  to  be  ready  for  the  pot. 

The  principal  coffee-growing  districts  of  Brazil  are  all  in- 
cluded in  the  four  States  of  Sao  Paulo,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Minas 
Geraes  and  Espirito  Santo,  but  as  stated  before,  Sao  Paulo  is 
the  seat  of  the  real  industry.  In  a  five-year  annual  average  the 
world's  crop  was  15,845,000  bags;  of  this  Sao  Paulo  produced 
9,260,000  bags,  while  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  the  other  States  pro- 
duced 3,550,000. 

Sao  Paulo  alone  has  in  the  neighborhood  of  700,000,000 
coffee  trees  planted.  However,  this  number  will  not  be  materi- 
ally increased  for  some  years,  owing  to  Government  regulation, 


COFFEE    WASHING   AT    SANTA    GERTRUDIS,    STATE    OF    SAO    PAULO, 

BRAZIL. 


BRAZIL 


A  TWELVE-OX  TEAM,  SANTA  GERTRUDIS,  STATE  OF  SAO  PAULO, 

BRAZIL. 

which  restricts  the  destruction  of  virgin  forests  and  the  indis- 
criminate and  almost  reckless  spread  of  the  coffee  plantations. 
It  is  held  that  it  is  time  for  the  owners  of  plantations  to  give 
more  attention  to  the  areas  already  under  cultivation,  for  by 
doing  so  they  may  increase  the  production  and  secure  a  better 
quality  of  berry. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  regarding  the  great  Coffee 
Trust,  but  personal  investigation  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  a 
trust,  as  we  in  the  United  States  understand  the  term,  does  not 
exist.  There  are  years  when  the  coffee  crop  is  short,  just  as  there 
are  years  when  wheat  does  not  yield  up  to  the  average,  and  it  is 
to  guard  against  these  shortages  that  the  Government  of  Brazil 
has  taken  a  hand  in  the  raising  and  marketing  of  this  important 
article  of  commerce. 

This  control  by  the  Government  insures  a  more  stable  price, 
for  when  there  is  a  shortage  the  reserve  stock  is  thrown  upon 
the  market  and  the  price  held  down.  The  high  prices  prevail- 
ing at  the  present  writing  are  due  to  a  shortage  in  crop,  a  condi- 
tion that  would  not  have  existed  had  the  Brazilian  Government 
acted  some  years  ago.  This  is  shown  by  plain  figures.  The 
value  of  the  coffee  crop,  at  a  low  price  in  1909,  was  $134,- 
674,470;  the  value  of  the  crop  for  1910  (the  fiscal  period 
ending  June,  1911),  was  $94,670,346  at  a  greatly  increased 


BRAZIL 


455 


price.  Supply  and  demand  fix  prices  on  coffee  as  well  as 
wheat,  and  any  one  can  see  that  there  must  have  been  a  short- 
age, when  a  high  price  per  bag  produces  a  smaller  total  return 
than  a  low  price. 

Since  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  Brazil  there  has  been  a 
great  influx  of  immigrants  from  Italy,  and  they  are  gradually 
supplanting  other  workers  in  the  coffee  business.  Three  or  four 
workers  can  easily  look  after  10,000  coffee  trees  during  the 
period  of  formation,  and  in  addition  pluck  yearly  1,200  bushels 
of  coffee. 

When  in  a  condition  to  be  exported,  the  coffee  is  burdened 
by  a  number  of  expenses — transportation  to  Santos,  broker's 
commissions,  municipal  taxes,  State  taxes,  export  duty,  loading 
on  ships,  and  a  number  of  minor  expenses  that  materially  re- 
duce the  profits  of  the  planter. 

However,  inventive  genius  has  brought  out  machinery  that 
will  greatly  reduce  the  cost  of  caring  for  the  trees  and  plucking 
the  fruit,  and  when  this  is  fully  perfected  it  is  asserted  that  one 
man,  with  four  mules  and  two  machines,  can  look  after  40,000 
trees  per  year. 

Coffee  is  the  one  great  industry  of  southern  Brazil ;  all  other 
industries  cluster  around  it  as  steel  filings  cling  to  a  magnet. 
Raising  coffee  under  the  old  system  was  such  an  easy  way  to 
wealth  that  only  such  other  things  as  were  necessary  were  at- 
tempted. 

With  some  of  the  best  grazing  lands  in  the  world,  they  have 
neglected  cattle  raising  and  bought  Argentinian  stock ;  with  soil 
that  would  raise  almost  anything,  husbandry  is  little  practiced, 
and  the  great  bulk  of  foodstuffs  is  bought  from  their  neigh- 
bors. But  now  that  the  Government  has  put  a  stop  to  the  reck- 
less spread  of  coffee  plantations,  and  is  insisting  upon  more 
scientific  cultivation,  it  is  quite  likely  that  the  planters  will  dis- 
cover that  the  abandoned  coffee  lands  may  be  profitably  put 
under  cultivation  and  money  made  on  other  crops,  and  that  in 
years  to  come  this  section,  which  now  hails  Coffee  as  King,  will 
reap  much  wealth  from  the  land  in  other  products. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

BEAUTIFUL  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 

AN  AMATEUR  artist  was  painting  a  sunset,  so  the  story 
goes,  and  was  laying  colors  on  the  canvas  in  lurid  streaks, 

while  near  by  an  old  farmer  sat  watching. 

"Ah,"  said  the  artist,  looking  up,  "perhaps  to  you,  also, 

Nature  has  opened  her  illuminated  pages  ?    Have  you,  too,  seen 

the  lambent  flame  of  dawn  leaping  athwart  the  gleaming  east ; 

the  red-stained,  sulphurous  islets  of  gold  floating  in  a  lake  of  fire 

in  the  west ;  the  ragged  clouds  at  midnight,  black  as  a  raven's 

wing,  blotting  out  the  shuddering  moon  ?" 

"No,"  drawled  the  old  farmer,  "not  since  I  quit  drinkin'." 
Whenever  I  am  tempted  to  write  very  poetically  I  am  afraid 

of  "overdoing  it,"  as  this  artist  evidently  did.    However,  there 


LOOKING  DOWN  FROM  THE  MOUNTAINS  UPON  THE 


456 


V 


BRAZIL 


457 


are  some  subjects  and  scenes  for  which  there  seems  no  fitting 
description  except  language  that  sounds  extravagant.  One  of 
these  is  beautiful  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  its  matchless  harbor. 

In  the  course  of  my  travels  over  this  wonderful  earth  of 
ours  I  have  looked  upon  some  beautiful  scenery,  among  which 
may  be  named  the  famous  Bay  of  Naples,  the  historic  Golden 
Horn  of  Constantinople,  the  splendid  Bay  of  Capetown,  and 
our  own  charming  Golden  Gate  at  San  Francisco ;  but  in  point 
of  actual  grandeur  and  picturesqueness  all  these  works  of 
Nature  are  surpassed  by  the  magnificent  Bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

Here  Nature,  the  master  sculptor  and  painter,  fashioned 
the  rugged  coast  of  Brazil  into  a  place  of  marvelous  beauty, 
bringing  the  granite  cliffs  of  the  mountains  down  to  the  sea 
in  serrated  ridges  and  peaks,  and  forming  a  land-locked  harbor 
the  like  of  which  cannot  be  found  elsewhere  on  the  entire  globe. 

The  Bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  has  been  the  subject  of  poetic 
praise  and  description  since  it  was  discovered  in  January,  1501, 
by  Amerigo  Vespucci,  and  the  traveler  who  comes  to  it,  even 
after  a  voyage  around  the  world,  is  as  moved  by  its  charms  as 
if  he  had  not  been  satiated  with  other  beautiful  views. 


ll  ARBOR,  BAY  AND  REGION  OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO,  BRAZIL, 


458 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


The  Bay  is  the  very  gate  to  a  tropical  paradise ;  one  doubts 
if  there  is  elsewhere  so  bold  a  coast,  such  a  picturesque  cluster 
of  mountains,  such  a  maze  of  small  islands,  such  a  burst  of 
tropical  vegetation.  Guarding  the  narrow  entrance  to  this 
wonder-spot  of  Nature  stands  an  insurmountable  granite  peak, 
2,200  feet  in  height,  known  as  the  "Sugar  Loaf,"  which  rises 
almost  precipitately  out  of  the  sea.  A  pretty  Brazilian  legend 


A  BIRD  S-EYE  VIEW  OF  THE  BAY 
TRAVELERS  PRONOUNCE  THIS  THE   MOST 

says  of-this  towering  peak  that,  having  made  the  Bay  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  the  Creator  was  so  pleased  with  His  work  that  He 
erected  this  monument  as  a  sort  of  exclamation  point  to  call 
man's  attention  to  His  masterpiece. 

Vespucci  in  1501  thought  he  had  discovered  a  great  river, 
and  as  he  reached  this  point  on  the  first  day  of  January,  he 
named  it  Rio  de  Janeiro  (meaning,  River  of  January)  ;  but  no 


BRAZIL 


459 


stream  of  any  importance  flows  into  the  Bay — it  is  simply  a 
gigantic  land-locked  harbor,  the  shores  of  which  form  a  reverse 
letter  S  and  are  nearly  one  hundred  miles  in  length. 

The  entrance  to  the  Bay  is  only  two  thousand  feet  wide, 
and  is  defended  by  forts,  one  at  the  base  of  the  "Sugar  Loaf" 
and  the  other  on  the  point  opposite.  Thus  the  city  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  the  capital  of  Brazil,  is  completely  protected  from 


i)F  RIO  DE  JANEIRO,  BRAZIL. 
JEAUTIFUL   HARBOR  IN    THE   WORLD. 

a  foreign  foe  by  water.  It  would  be  impossible  for  war  vessels 
to  pass  between  these  forts  under  the  galling  fire  that  could 
be  poured  into  them. 

Passing  the  narrows  and  following  the  channel,  we  come 
to  that  portion  of  the  Bay  which  is  locally  known  as  Guanabara 
Bay,  where  the  warships  of  Brazil  lie  at  anchor,  and  to  the  west 
of  which  is  seen  Rio,  not  in  a  lump,  but  in  pieces,  behind  the 


460 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


curves  of  the  seashore  and  green  hills.  In  front,  on  the  east 
we  see  Jurjuba,  where  the  hospital  for  epidemic  diseases  is 
located ;  after  this  the  charming  beach  of  Icarahy  with  its  cele- 
brated rocks,  and  farther  ahead  the  city  of  Nictheroy,  the 
pretty  capital  of  the  State  of  Rio. 

The  entire  harbor  is  dotted  with  islands,  most  of  which  are 
large  enough  for  buildings  of  some  sort,  some  even  being  large 
enough  for  cultivation  of  the  ground.  The  passenger  steamers 
anchor  a  little  nearer  the  city  quay,  between  where  the  men-of- 
war  lie  and  a  small  island  in  front  of  the  custom  house,  an 
island  on  which  a  beautiful  building  has  been  erected  as  the 
barracks  of  the  custom  house  inspectors. 

J  Beyond  this  the  space  is  taken  up  by  ships  of  all  nationali- 
ties, from  the  largest  steamers  to  the  smallest  sailing  vessels, 
some  just  coming,  some  surrounded  by  lighters,  and  others 
hoisting  anchor  to  leave.  At  the  quay  small  steamers  and  sail- 
ing ships  receive  from  the  storage  houses  freight  for  foreign 
countries.  The  forest  of  masts,  funnels,  stretched  ropes,  the 
noise  of  voices,  hoisting  machinery  and  steamship  whistles  give 
to  that  part  of  the  Bay  a  characteristic  feature — a  contrast  to 
the  vastness  and  profound  silence  of  the  waters  elsewhere,  for 
farther  away  this  matchless  harbor  is  deep  and  peaceful  and 
dotted  with  islands  where  life  is  quieter. 

The  panoramic  view  on  pages  458  and  459  is  of  that  portion 


A  BIT  OF  WATER-FRONT  WITH  THE  CUSTOM   HOUSE  IN  THE 
BACKGROUND,  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 


BRAZIL 


461 


TOP  OF  TIYUCA  MOUNTAIN,   NEAR  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 


of  the  Bay  lying 
directly  in  front  of 
the  city  of  Rio,  and 
is  locally  known  as 
the  Botafogo.  It 
is  quite  a  preten- 
t  i  o  u  s  bay  itself, 
and  as  shown  in 
the  picture,  is  com- 
pletely surrounded 
by  a  bea  u  t  i  f  u  1 
drive  known  as  the 
A  v  e  n  i  d  a  Beira- 
Mar,  which,  begin- 
ning at  the  Lapa 
terminal  of  the 
Aven  i  d  a  Central, 
swings  around  the 
shores  of  the  Bay 
in  a  graceful 
horseshoe  curve  to 
the  suburbs — a  dis- 
tance of  six  miles. 
Vessels  of  com- 
merce do  not  in- 
vade this  portion 
of  the  Bay  at  any 
time,  and  war  ves- 
sels only  on  na- 


tional fete  days,  when  the  populace  crowds  the  Avenida  Beira- 
Mar.  It  is  the  scene,  however,  of  many  regattas  and  water 
carnivals. 

The  panoramic  photograph  from  which  the  picture  men- 
tioned was  made  is  declared  the  finest  view  ever  taken  of 
this  beautiful  place.  We  were  several  days  in  securing  it 
and  took  perhaps  twenty-five  pictures  before  this  one  was  ob- 
tained. An  official  of  the  Brazilian  Government  was  so  im- 
pressed with  it  that  he  offered  me  a  large  sum  for  the  film,  to 
be  used  exclusively  by  the  Government,  but  I  refused,  keeping 


462 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


it  for  the  readers  of  this  book  and  the  Saturday  Blade,  in 
whose  interest  I  made  my  long  journey  through  South  America. 

The  history  of  the  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  or  to  give  it  its 
full  name,  Sao  Sebastiao  do  Rio  de  Janeiro,  dates  from  1566, 
when  Estacio  de  Sa  effected  a  landing  with  a  few  colonists  near 
the  Sugar  Loaf  Mountain.  The  next  year  the  settlement  was 
transferred  to  the  site  of  the  present  city,  which  was  built  ac- 
cording to  the  old  Portuguese  ideas  of  architecture,  with  nar- 
row streets  that  curved  around  the  shores  of  the  Bay  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountains. 

Rome  is  built  on  seven  hills;  Rio  de  Janeiro  is  built  on 
many,  for,  with  the  growth  in  population,  the  city  spread  back 
upon  the  elevations  and  up  the  valleys  between  them.  The 
narrow  strip  of  land  along  the  sea  could  not  accommodate  the 
homes  of  a  million  people — the  approximate  population  of  the 
city  today. 

As  will  be  shown  in  another  chapter,  Rio  de  Janeiro  has 
always  been  the  capital  of  Brazil,  the.  Prince  Regent  of  Por- 
tugal, when  he  fled  from  that  country,  having  established  his 
court  at  this  point.  When  he  returned  to  Portugal  his  son, 


A  CHURCH  AND  GROUP  OF  TYPICAL  DWELLING  HOUSES, 
RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 


BRAZIL 


463 


SCENE  IN  A  PARK  IN  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 

Dom  Pedro  L,  remained  as  the  Emperor  of  Brazil.  When 
Dom  Pedro  II.  was  overthrown  and  a  republic  established,  the 
capital  remained  in  this  city,  which  thrived  and  grew,  despite 
the  fact  that  it  was  handicapped  by  those  pests  of  the  tropic — 
yellow  fever,  bubonic  plague  and  smallpox. 

Not  understanding  how  these  dread  maladies  were  spread, 
when  they  became  epidemic  to  such  an  extent  that  merchant 
ships  would  not  touch  at  the  port,  no  real  attempts  were 
made  to  stamp  them  out.  Rio  de  Janeiro  would  possibly  still 
be  the  pest  hole  it  had  been  for  centuries,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  courage  and  bravery  of  United  States  army  doctors,  who 
gave  their  lives  in  demonstrating  that  mosquitoes  were  the 
active  agents  of  infection. 

The  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  was  the  first  to  recognize  the  im- 
portance of  the  discovery  and  act  upon  it.  In  1902  President 
Alves  appointed  a  special  commission  of  engineers  and  medical 
experts  to  devise  a  plan  to  make  Rio  de  Janeiro  not  only  sani- 


BRAZIL  465 

tary  and  safe,  but  beautiful  as  well.  One  year  was  spent  in 
making  plans  and  the  negotiations  for  loans  necessary  to  carry 
out  the  work.  In  1903,  with  nearly  $60,000,000  secured  for 
the  enterprise,  work  was  begun,  but  before  it  was  completed 
nearly  $100,000,000  was  spent. 

Large  hills  were  torn  down  and  low  places  filled  up,  an  up- 
to-date  water  and  sewer  system  was  installed,  and  the  narrow 
streets  running  back  from  the  water-front  were  widened.  Five 
valleys  that  break  the  ridge  of  mountains  back  of  the  main  part 
of  the  city  were  utilized  in  a  peculiar  way  to  purify  the  air  of 
the  city.  The  reader's  own  hand  will  illustrate  this  as  well  as 
a  picture.  Assuming  that  the  hand  is  the  Bay  in  front  of  the 
city,  the  fingers,  as  they  spread  apart  like  a  fan,  will  represent 
the  avenues  that,  beginning  at  the  Bay,  where  they  are  very 
wide,  gradually  get  narrower  as  they  run  back  to  meet  the 
valleys,  a  peculiar  formation  that  almost  continually  draws  the 
sea  breeze  back  through  the  city  into  the  mountains. 

Of  course,  there  were  opponents  to  this  great  enterprise,  but 
the  wise  officials  simply  went  ahead  with  their  work,  condemn- 
ing property,  as  any  great  city  should  do,  razing  old,  obsolete 
structures,  and  in  their  places  having  modern,  up-to-date  build- 
ings erected,  that  go  far  toward  making  Rio  de  Janeiro  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  places  in  the  world. 

Today  it  is  absolutely  sanitary ;  the  mosquito  is  no  more  and 
flies  are  scarcer  than  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States. 
The  Mosquito  Department  of  the  city  is  as  prompt  and  effi- 
cient as  the  Chicago  Fire  Department,  startling  as  that  state- 
ment may  seem.  If  a  person  discovers  a  mosquito,  a  telephone 
call  will  bring  two  inspectors  in  ten  minutes,  and  it  is  their  busi- 
ness to  locate  the  pool  where  it  was  bred  and  remove  the  breed- 
ing place. 

In  all  my  five  weeks'  stay  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  I  did  not  see  or 
hear  a  mosquito,  nor  was  I  bothered  with  flies,  and  this,  despite 
the  fact  that  the  doors  and  windows  were  wide  open.  I  learned 
that  there  is  not  a  mosquito  bar  or  screen  used  in  the  entire  city. 

One  result  of  the  recent  rebuilding  of  the  city  is  magnificent 

boulevards,  which  are  made  by  laying  cobblestones  upon  a  bed 

of  concrete,  and  spreading  a  thick  layer  of  asphalt  upon  the 

cobblestones.     Having  the  best  of  asphalt  and  no  frost  to  heave 

30 


BRAZIL  467 

the  foundation,  the  boulevards  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  are,  without 
exception,  the  finest  in  the  world.  They  are  lined  with  shade 
trees,  with  walks  for  pedestrians  and  seats  for  those  who  wish 
to  rest  and  watch  the  automobiles  skim  by  at  a  rate  of  forty  to 
sixty  miles  an  hour.  Of  these  boulevards  the  most  beautiful 
are  the  Avenida  Central,  with  which  there  is  nothing  in  the 
United  States  to  compare,  and  the  picturesque  Avenida  Beira- 
Mar. 

Before  the  reconstruction  of  the  city  it  was  impossible  to 
operate  automobiles  along  the  narrow  streets.  As  a  result  all 
of  the  autos  are  new  and  of  the  best  European  make,  on  which 
only  seven  per  cent  import  duty  is  charged.  American  manu- 
facturers cannot  meet  the  price  of  the  European  cars,  so  an 
automobile  from  the  United  States  is  a  rare  sight  in  Brazil.  All 
automobiles  carry  two  men  "on  the  box" — even  the  taxis ;  this 
is  a  continuation  of  the  old  custom  of  the  richer  element  having 
a  coachman  and  a  footman  on  their  carriages. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  short  space  to  describe  the  beauty  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  which,  beginning  at  the  balustrade  sea  wall  of 
granite,  sweeps  back  over  the  smaller  hills  of  two  hundred  and 
three  hundred  feet  in  height,  around  the  peaks  that  extend  up- 
ward to  over  two  thousand  feet,  and  up  the  valleys  which  are 
lined  with  houses  set  in  the  very  exuberance  of  tropical  mag- 
nificence. 

Some  of  the  hills  and  mountains  are  clad  in  verdure,  others 
rise  steep  and  bare.  One  cliff  faces  the  sea  at  a  height  of 
2,200  feet,  and  the  cleavage  is  so  steep  that  it  has  been 
scaled  but  once,  and  that  by  a  trained  athlete,  who  was  careful 
not  to  come  down  the  way  he  went  up.  Asked  to  tell  of  the 
thrilling  climb,  he  said  the  worst  thing  about  it  was  that  his 
hands  were  made  sore  by  stepping  on  them  as  he  crawled  from 
niche  to  niche  up  the  towering  wall,  finding  at  times  that  the 
only  place  to  put  his  feet  was  where  he  was  clinging  with  his 
fingers.  You  may  believe  this  if  you  want  to. 

The  arrangement  of  the  hills  and  mountains  about  the  city 
results  in  a  marvelous  series  of  echoes,  and  when  one  of  the 
forts  or  warships  fires  a  salute  the  resounding  echoes  make  it 
seem  much  as  if  a  battle  were  in  progress.  A  single  shot  will 
produce  four  or  five  echoes,  depending  upon  the  location  of  the 


468 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


gun  when  fired.  They  tell  a  story  of  how  an  American,  from 
the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  once  listened  to  these  remarkable 
echoes  without  much  interest.  "As  echoes  they  don't  amount 
to  much,"  he  said.  "Why,  I've  got  an  echo  in  the  mountains 
near  my  gold  mine  that  is  worth  something.  Every  night  when 
I  am  ready  to  go  to  bed  I  just  go  out  and  yell,  'Seven  o'clock! 
Get  up !'  and  at  exactly  seven  in  the  morning  the  echo  yells 
the  same  words  in  at  my  window  and  I  wake  up.  Saves  a  lot 
of  trouble,  you  see." 

Nowhere  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  did  I  see  evidences  of  poverty, 


EMPEROR'S  PALACE,  NOW  NATIONAL  MUSEUM,  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 

although  the  "simple  life"  was  in  evidence  in  the  quarters 
where  the  laborers  toil  and  live.  The  genial  climate  makes  an 
excess  of  clothing  unnecessary,  so  about  all  the  laborer  needs, 
if  he  does  not  care  for  the  conventions  of  society,  is  a  pair  of 
cotton  trousers ;  while  his  wife  can,  and  does  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, manage  to  get  along  with  a  cotton  slip  built  a  la  "Mother 
Hubbard." 

The  rebuilding  of  the  city  has  resulted  in  the  erection  of 
many  new  and  beautiful  marble  buildings,  some  of  them  six 


IN 


4/o  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

and  seven  stories  high.  Notably  among  these  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Monroe  Palace,  shown  in  the  front  of  the  volume, 
which  was  built  in  commemoration  of  the  American  Monroe 
Doctrine;  the  Municipal  Theater,  with  a  capacity  of  20,000 
people,  and  the  Tramway  Hotel,  which  is  so  constructed  that 
street  cars  run  directly  through  the  lower  story. 

The  old  palace  of  the  Emperor  Dom  Pedro  is  still  one  of 
the  objects  of  interest,  being  now  used  as  the  National  Museum, 
where  are  kept  many  of  those  treasures  that  are  dear  to  the 
hearts  of  Brazilians.  One  of  the  objects  of  interest  to  be 
found  in  the  museum  is  the  Brazilian  meteorite,  which  is  the 
largest  in  the  world,  weighing  nearly  five  tons.  This  wanderer 
from  outer  space  was  discovered  in  1871,  and  after  many  un- 
successful attempts  was  finally  placed  in  the  museum. 

All  of  the  shops  and  stores  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  are  small.  In 
widening  the  streets  the  front  ends  of  the  stores  were  sliced 
off,  leaving  the  merchant  sometimes  one-half  of  the  space  he 
had  formerly  occupied.  There  are  no  department  stores,  such 
as  we  have  in  the  United  States,  and  while  the  merchants  carry 
very  complete  lines,  their  stocks  are  small,  being  replenished 
frequently  from  large  warehouses  where  the  goods  are  held 
in  bond,  the  duty  on  which  is  not  paid  until  they  remove  the 
articles. 

The  city  has  a  very  fine  street  car  system,  the  bonds  of 
which  are  owned  by  Canadian  capitalists.  The  cars  are  all 
open  and  the  seats  are  so  narrow  that  it  is  difficult  for  a  fat 
man  to  squeeze  into  one.  There  are  two-  rates  of  fare,  nine 
cents  being  charged  the  ordinary  passenger,  but  in  the  early 
morning  and  in  the  evening  a  second-class  rate  of  two  cents  -is 
charged  for  the  benefit  of  the  laborers  going  and  coming  from 
work. 

The  municipality  is  governed  by  a  Prefect,  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  republic.  The  Minister  of  Justice  is  the  Su- 
perintendent of  Police,  and  the  police  force  is  comprised  of 
about  4,500  men.  The  fire  department  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant institutions  of  the  city,  and  is  without  doubt,  the  most 
efficient  in  all  South  America. 

A  Canadian  company,  with  a  capital  of  $50,000,000,  incor- 
porated in  1904,  has  developed  the  abundant  water  power  about 


BRAZIL 


473 


the  city  for  the  purpose  of  electricity,  so  that  the  city  is  well 
lighted,  and  has  ample  power  for  all  the  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments that  now  exist  or  may  be  built. 

One  of  the  picturesque  sights  of  the  city  is  a  huge  granite 
bridge  crossing  from  one  elevation  to  another.  Before  the  in- 
stallation of  the  present  up-to-date  waterworks  system  this  was 
used  as  an  aqueduct.  The  Avenue  of  Palms  on  the  Canal  do 
Mangue  is  another  of  the  charming  spots  of  this  most  attractive 
city,  and  the  sightseer  lingers  long  entranced  by  its  beauty. 

To  fully  describe  the  Botanical  Gardens,  which  lie  in  the 


A  UNIQUE  COFFEE  HOUSE,  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 

suburbs  of  the  city,  would  require  well  nigh  as  much  space  as 
to  describe  the  city  itself.  Here  Nature  and  man  have  con- 
spired together  in  the  making  of  a  garden  that  is  a  veritable 
Eden.  It  may  be  reached  by  street  car  or  by  auto,  either  trip 
being  one  of  countless  surprises  and  delights.  At  one  point  on 
the  way  an  enterprising  man  has  taken  a  cave-like  formation 
of  granite  in  the  base  of  a  hill  and  converted  it  into  a  delightful 
coffee  house.  It  was  so  unique  that  I  present  readers  with  a 
photograph  of  it  above. 

The  city  is  well  supplied  with  schools  of  all  sorts,  churches 


THE  CATHEDRAL,   RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 


BRAZIL  475 

and  charitable  institutions.  While  the  population  is  mainly 
Portuguese,  there  is  the  usual  cosmopolitan  mixture  of  all 
races,  among  which  the  negro  predominates,  as  the  result  of  the 
importation  of  slaves  prior  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 

To  write  a  really  adequate  description  of  beautiful  Rio  de 
Janeiro  would  occupy  more  than  one  chapter.  Even  then  it  is 
doubtful  if  one  could  convey  to  the  reader  a  word-picture  that 
would  do  the  place  justice.  In  this  spot  there  is  a  combina- 
tion of  blue  sea,  of  verdant  islands,  of  soaring  cliffs  and  green 
hills  and  picturesque  architecture,  that  form  a  vision  of  beauty 
I  believe  unequaled  elsewhere  on  the  globe.  All  praise  to  the 
men  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  who  had  the  wisdom  and  energy  to 
create  a  city  so  sanitary,  so  artistic,  and  so  entirely  pleasant  for 
human  beings  to  live  in. 

There  are  numerous  beautiful  suburbs  about  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  among  them  Petropolis  perhaps  being  the  most  nota- 
ble. This  little  city  lies  across  the  Bay  and  up  in  the  moun- 
tains, twenty-eight  miles  distant  from  the  capital.  It  is  3,000 
feet  above  sea  level,  and  its  situation  is  exceedingly  picturesque 
and  salubrious.  There  are  many  handsome  buildings,  and 
the  place  is  unique  as  the  residence  of  the  entire  foreign 
diplomatic  corps.  This  came  about  by  reason  of  the  fact  that 
several  years  ago  the  diplomatic  body  abandoned  the  capital 
during  a  yellow  fever  epidemic.  It  is  likely  that  the  diplomatic 
corps  will  eventually  be  removed  to  the  capital  for  permanent 
residence,  since  Rio  de  Janeiro  is  now  in  excellent  sanitary 
condition.  Petropolis  is  a  favorite  resort  of  wealth  and  fash- 
ion, and  during  eight  or  nine  months  of  the  year  teems  with 
life  and  gayety.  For  a  small  town  it  is  important,  since  it  is 
the  residence  of  twenty  foreign  diplomats. 

I  had  an  interview  with  Hermes  da  Fonseca,  President  of 
Brazil,  which  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  pleasant 
experiences  of  my  South  American  journey.  I  was  presented 
to  the  President  by  a  personal  friend,  United  States  Ambassa- 
dor Irving  B.  Dudley,  since  deceased.  President  Fonseca's 
residence  is  the  Government  Palace  at  Rio  de  Janeiro.  I 
found  him  a  pleasant,  courteous  gentleman,  living  in  demo- 
cratic simplicity  that  was  in  marked  contrast  with  the  pomp 
and  red  tape  usually  surrounding  rulers.  We  discussed  many 


THE  LATE  UNITED  STATES  AMBASSADOR,  IRVING  B.   DUDLEY,   HIS 

WIFE  AND  DAUGHTER,  ON  THE  VERANDA  OF  THE 

PALACE  ISABEL,   PETROPOLIS,   BRAZIL. 


BRAZIL  477 

subjects,  of  which  I  will  mention  only  the  more  important. 

Regarding  the  subject  of  international  arbitration  the  Presi- 
dent declared  that  Brazil  was  very  much  in  favor  of  it,  so 
much  so  that  it  had  been  provided  for  in  their  constitution, 
and  in  that  respect  Brazil  was  ahead  of  every  other  nation  of 
the  world.  The  very  first  trouble  Brazil  had  with  another 
nation,  after  the  establishment  of  the  republic,  was  with  Argen- 
tina. In  accordance  with  the  constitution,  Brazil  prevailed 
upon  Argentina  to  leave  the  matter  to  President  Cleveland  of 
the  United  States  for  arbitration,  and  as  it  happened,  he 
decided  in  favor  of  Brazil,  since  which  time  she  has  had  the 
highest  opinion  of  arbitration  and  a  warm  feeling  for  the 
United  States. 

In  our  discussion  of  reciprocity  between  the  United  States 
and  Brazil,  President  Fonseca  said  that  the  United  States  was 
the  only  country  with  which  Brazil  exchanged  goods  on  that 
basis,  and  that  on  several  leading  export  articles  we  have  the 
advantage  over  other  countries  in  the  matter  of  duty,  and  on 
all  articles  imported  into  Brazil  we  have  from  15  to  30  per 
cent  better  rates  than  any  other  country. 

I  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  99^2  per  cent  of  all 
goods  we  import  from  Brazil  come  into  the  United  States 
free  of  duty,  there  being  no  import  tax  on  coffee  and  rubber, 
Brazil's  greatest  export  staples,  and  then  asked  if  his  country 
could  not  make  us  better  reciprocal  terms  than  we  had  already. 
His  answer  to  this  pertinent  query  was  a  lengthy  explanation 
of  governmental  affairs  and  condition  of  finances,  which  may 
be  briefly  summed  up  by  saying  that  they  could  not  do  so  at 
this  time  because  the  nation  needs  the  money  thus  obtained 
for  governmental  purposes,  Brazil  being  larger  than  the  United 
States  in  area  while  possessing  only  22,000,000  inhabitants,  50 
per  cent  of  whom  are  Indians  and  negroes,  who  pay  no  taxes. 

While  on  the  subject  of  the  commercial  relations  of  our 
respective  countries  I  mentioned  that  40  per  cent  of  Brazil's 
exports  found  a  market  in  the  United  States,  while  only  12 
per  cent  of  Brazil's  imports  came  from  the  United  States,  and 
suggested  that  Brazil  should  buy  more  goods  from  us.  His 
reply  was  that  we  should  make  a  greater  effort  to  sell  our 
goods  in  Brazil,  and  I  was  compelled  to  admit  that  we  do  not 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


work  the  field  as  we  should  and  take  advantage  of  the  recipro- 
cal duties.  It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  our  exporters  do  not 
make  as  effective  efforts  to  sell  goods  in  Brazil  as  manufac- 
turers of  European  countries,  and  perhaps  the  principal  reason 
is  that  we  do  not  possess  any  banks  there  and  the  business 
done  must  be  transacted  through  the  agency  of  foreign  banks. 
I  commented  on  our  friendly  diplomatic  relations  with 
Brazil — the  youngest  republic  in  South  America,  and  in  fact, 
the  only  nation  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  where  we  have 
established  an  embassy  with  a  representative  of  the  rank  of 
Ambassador — and  in  his  reply  President  Fonseca  spoke  in  the 

highest  terms  of  my  friend, 
the  late  Ambassador  Dudley. 
He  stated  that  he  was  proud 
to  have  had  almost  daily 
conversations  with  a  gentle- 
man of  such  high  standing, 
character  and  intellectual  at- 
tainments. 

President  Fonseca  stated 
that  he  felt  that  the  United 
States  was  a  real  friend  to 
Brazil,  and  that  we  had  al- 
ways shown  this  when  a 
friend  was  needed. 

In  our  discussion  of  the 
rebuilding  of  the  city  of  Rio 
de  Janeiro  for  the  purpose" 
of  securing  perfect  sanita- 
tion, I  asked  if  they  had  not 
taken  great  risk,  and  he  re- 
plied that  the  work  which 

cost  approximately  $100,000,000,  and  made  Rio  de  Janeiro 
the  finest  city  in  the  world  from  a  sanitary  and  artistic  stand- 
point, had  been  put  through  in  face  of  the  opposition  of  85 
per  cent  of  the  people ;  and  that  even  when  finished  and  its 
advantages  were  evident  to  all,  the  feeling  of  opposition  was 
so  strong  against  the  men  who  had  gone  ahead  and  completed 


HERMES  DA  FONSECA,  PRESIDENT 
OF  BRAZIL. 


BRAZIL  479 

this  most  gigantic  enterprise,  that  they  were  obliged  to  leave 
their  homes  and  live  in  foreign  countries. 

I  then  told  him  of  our  own  experience  in  the  improvement 
of  the  city  of  Washington,  the  capital  of  the  United  States. 
"Boss"  Shepherd,  who  engineered  and  put  the  work  through, 
was  assailed  as  a  robber  and  grafter  on  account  of  the  high 
cost  of  the  work,  and  so  hot  was  the  fight  made  upon  him 
that  he  was  forced  to  leave  the  United  States.  He  went  to 
Mexico,  where  he  engaged  in  mining,  and  years  afterward, 
when  the  people  of  the  United  States  realized  the  injustice 
done  him,  he  was  brought  back,  given  a  big  banquet,  apolo- 
gized to,  and  everything  possible  done  to  wipe  out  remem- 
brances of  the  insult  heaped  upon  him. 

I  inquired  how  the  population  in  cities  compared  with 
that  of  the  country  in  Brazil,  and  was  astonished  to  learn  that 
they  had  just  completed,  at  enormous  expense,  the  first  house- 
to-house  census  of  the  country.  The  President  informed  me 
that  20  per  cent  of  the  people  of  Brazil  live  in  cities.  In 
Argentina  40  per  cent  live  in  cities,  and  in  the  United  States 
28  per  cent.  Brazil's  figures  seem  about  right  to  me,  and  in 
my  judgment  this  division  of  population  is  bound  to  be  of 
advantage  to  the  country,  keeping  the  cities  prosperous  and 
the  country  districts  more  so. 

As  to  railroads,  President  Fonseca  regretted  that  Brazil 
was  still  short  on  mileage.  He  is  alive  to  the  fact  that  adequate 
transportation  is  necessary  for  the  development  of  the  country, 
and  said  the  country  was  doing  everything  it  could  to  aid  in 
the  building  of  roads,  guaranteeing  bonds  and  aiding  in  other 
ways  every  enterprise  that  would  prove  of  advantage  to  the 
country.  About  1,500  miles  of  road  were  constructed  during 
the  year  previous  to  my  visit.  Brazil  has  only  12,500  miles  of 
railroad,  while  the  United  States  has  234,000  miles. 

My  personal  opinion  of  President  Fonseca  corresponds 
with  that  held  by  many  leading  men  of  Brazil  (some  of  whom 
do  not  agree  with  him  in  politics),  that  he  is  thoroughly  honest 
and  while  not  a  trained  politician  or  statesman  (having  been 
Commander  of  the  Army  prior  to  his  election)  that  he  is 
a  very  safe  President,  listening  carefully  to  all  sides  of  all 
questions  of  importance  before  giving  judgment,  and  that 


480  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

political  parties  and  factions  do  not  control  him.  In  other 
words  he  is  the  President  of  Brazil,  the  same  as  he  was  Com- 
mander of  the  Army,  impartial  to  all,  and  working  for  the  good 
and  glory  of  his  country. 

The  constitution  of  Brazil  is  modeled  closely  after  that  of 
the  United  States,  so  closely,  in  fact,  that  with  minor  excep- 
tions, such  as  greater  States'  rights  and  the  clause  providing 
for  arbitration,  one  would  imagine  them  identical.  The  Con- 
gress is  composed  of  Senators  and  Deputies,  and  the  duration 
of  Congress  is  three  years.  A  majority  of  each  body  is  neces- 
sary to  constitute  a  quorum.  To  be  eligible  to  election  one 
must  have  been  a  citizen  four  years  in  case  of  a  Deputy,  and 
six  years  in  case  of  a  Senator.  The  President  is  elected  every 
four  years,  but  cannot  succeed  himself.  He  must  be  a  native- 
born  Brazilian,  and  over  thirty-five  years  of  age.  His  duties 
and  powers  are  similar  to  those  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  judicial  power  of  the  union  is  also  similar  to  that  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  twenty-one  States  hold  much  the 
same  relation  to  the  Federal  Government  as  in  our  own  country. 

Being  constitutionally  in  favor  of  arbitration,  Brazil's  army 
and  navy  are  small ;  the  people  regard  it  only  necessary  to  keep 
pace  with  other  South  American  nations  in  this  respect. 
Unlike  Chile  and  Argentina,  Brazil  has  no  compulsory  law  to 
fill  either  branch  of  arms,  relying  on  a  volunteer  service,  very 


THE  PALACE  ISABEL,  THE  AMERICAN  AMBASSADORS 
RESIDENCE,  PETROPOLIS,  BRAZIL. 


BRAZIL  481 

similar  to  our  own.  Her  navy  consists  of  thirty-eight  vessels, 
some  of  which  are  very  modern,  and  8,800  men ;  the  army  on 
a  peace  footing  consists  of  28,000  men. 

Brazil's  monetary  system  is  based  on  gold  values,  and  is 
therefore  stable.  The  unit  of  circulation  is  the  milreis,  with 
a  value  of  thirty-three  cents  in  our  money.  The  country  is 
well  supplied  with  banks,  the  principal  nations  of  Europe  all 
being  represented  by  firms  in  the  largest  commercial  cities. 
The  principal  foreign  bank  is  the  London-Brazilian,  which  has 
branches  all  over  South  America,  and  is  one  of  the  soundest 
institutions  in  the  world.  I  observed  that  while  the  Brazilians 
are  inclined  to  be  a  trifle  jealous  of  the  success  of  foreigners 
in  most  business  ventures,  they  are  anxious  for  the  establish- 
ment of  foreign  banks,  arid  the  Government  gives  them  good 
protection. 

On  one  of  the  many  small  islands  in  the  Bay  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro  lies  a  complete  outfit  for  a  large  oil-refining  plant  that 
has  never  been  erected.  It  belongs  to  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany, and  as  it  lies  there  a  prey  to  the  elements  it  is  mute 
testimony  to  the  jealousy  of  the  Brazilians  in  regard  to 
foreigners  obtaining  a  business  monopoly,  and  at  the  same 
time  shows  how  a  United  States  money  king  can  curb  com- 
merce when  he  does  not  have  his  own  sweet  will.  The  story 
is  interesting  and  few  know  all  its  details,  as  it  has  never 
before  been  in  print. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  friend  of  mine,  who  is  the  president  of 
a  large  New  York  bank,  advised  me  that  the  chief  financiers 
interested  in  his  bank  had  declared  that  it  would  greatly  aid 
the  commerce  of  the  United  States  with  South  American  coun- 
tries if  substantial  American  branch  banks  were  opened  in  the 
various  business  centers  of  that  continent,  and  that  they  would 
establish  the  first  one  in  Brazil.  A  year  or  so  later  he  advised 
me  that  they  had  given  up  the  project,  adding  that  the  "old 
man,"  as  he  called  the  leading  capitalist  interested  in  the  bank, 
had  backed  out.  That  was  all  I  heard  at  that  time. 

While  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  I  picked  up  the  missing  link  in  the 

story.      Some   years   ago,   a   friend   of   Brazil's   Minister   of 

Finance  suggested  to  him  to  put  an  import  duty  on  refined  oil, 

admitting  crude  oil  free,  and  then  give  a  company  he  would 

31 


482 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


ISLAND  IN  THE  BAY  OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO  WHERE  THE  OIL  TRUST 
PLANNED  A  REFINERY. 

form  a  monopoly  on  refining  oil.  This  was  done  by  due  pro- 
cess of  law,  and  the  promoter  went  ahead  with  his  enterprise, 
but  just  when  he  was  about  to  secure  the  necessary  financial 
aid  a  local  panic  made  this  impossible,  and  the  project  was 
given  up. 

The  Standard  Oil  Company,  however,  never  overlooks  any* 
thing  to  its  advantage,  whether  in  the  United  States,  Brazil, 
or  the  remotest  part  of  the  world.  The  concession  secured  by 
the  Brazilian  promoter  was  valuable  to  the  Trust,  and  after 
showing  him  that  it  was  of  practically  no  value  to  him,  they 
bought  it  at  a  very  low  price,  arranged  all  the  details  for  a 
great  refining  plant  on  the  island  in  the  Bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
and  shipped  the  machinery  and  material  for  the  refinery. 

Meanwhile  the  Minister  of  Finance  learned  from  his  friend, 
the  promoter,  that  the  Standard  Oil  Company  had  secured  the 
concession  at  a  ridiculously  low  price,  and  would  at  once  pro- 


BRAZIL  483 

ceed  to  enjoy  the  monopoly  on  refined  oil,  whereupon  he  pro- 
ceeded to  undo  what  he  had  done.  He  had  secured  the  duty 
on  refined  oil,  so  he  simply  had  it  removed,  making  the  conces- 
sion now  owned  by  the  Oil  Trust  of  no  value. 

As  stated  before/the  oil-refining  plant  has  not  been  erected, 
nor  has  the  branch  bank  above  referred  to  been  started. 
Readers,  no  doubt,  are  so  well  informed  relative  to  the  con- 
nection between  the  Oil  Trust  and  the  great  banks  of  Wall 
Street  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  detail  and  explain  why 
the  money  king  refused  to  go  ahead  with  the  banking  project 
when  he  could  not  have  the  refined-oil  monopoly  of  Brazil. 

Meanwhile  the  United  States  is  denied  the  commercial  ad- 
vantages in  Brazil  that  are  enjoyed  by  European  countries, 
simply  because  we  have  no  branch  banks  there.  The  time 
may  come,  however,  when  the  grudge  of  an  oil  king  may  not 
operate  to  stifle  commerce,  and  then  our  manufacturers  will 
be  able  to  take  advantage  of  our  reciprocal  trade  agreement 
with  Brazil. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

HOW  BRAZIL  BECAME  A  REPUBLIC. 

THE  honor  of  discovering  that  portion  of  South  America 
now  known  as  Brazil  is  given  by  historians  to  Pedro 
Alvarez  Cabral,  a  Portuguese  explorer. 

The  western  coast  of  Africa  is  only  about  1,200  miles  from 
the  eastern  coast  of  South  America,  and  in  sailing  south  Cabral 
was  carried  west,  and  on  May  3,  1500,  anchored  his  fleet  at  a 
point  about  400  miles  northeast  of  the  present  site  of  the  city 
of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  This  date  is  a  national  holiday  in  Brazil,  and 
the  anniversary  for  the  annual  convening  of  the  Congress  of 
the  republic. 

Cabral  thought  he  had  discovered  an  island,  which  he  named 
the  "Island  of  the  True  Cross,"  and  this  name  stuck  to  the 
country  for  nearly  half  a  century.  He  took  possession  of  the 
land  in  the  name  of  his  King  and  the  Church,  and  then  inquired 
of  the  Indians  if  they  knew  what  gold  and  silver  were,  and 
rinding  them  uninformed,  he  decided  that  the  discovery  made 
was  of  little  value  on  account  of  the  absence  of  these  valuable 
metals. 

Several  Spanish  explorers  and  discoverers  touched  the  coast 
of  Brazil  soon  after  CabraFs  discovery,  but  their  accounts  of 
the  country  were  not  flattering,  and  when  Orellana  crossed  the 
Andes  and  sailed  down  the  Amazon  in  quest  of  gold,  and  re- 
ported none,  and  that  the  country  adjoining  the  great  river  was 
inhabited  by  fierce  bands  of  savages,  the  Spanish  Government 
concluded  to  "pass  up"  this  magnificent  domain. 

Portuguese  exploring  expeditions  were  sent  out  at  once 
under  command  of  Amerigo  Vespucci.  He  was  disappointed 
in  finding  no  gold  or  silver,  but  he  did  find  that  the  country 
possessed  a  great  quantity  of  brazil-wood — a  dyewood  that 
had  been  used  in  Europe  for  centuries.  The  commercial  im- 
portance of  this  find  resulted  later  in  changing  the  name  of  the 

484 


BRAZIL 


485 


country  to  Brazil,  much  to  the  grief  of  the  churchmen,  who 
preferred  "Island  of  the  True  Cross." 

A  country  yielding  no  gold  or  silver  held  but  little  attraction 
in  that  day,  so  for  many  years  no  direct  effort  was  made  to 
settle  Brazil.  However,  attracted  by  the  gain  to  be  made  from 
the  abundance  of  dyewoods,  private  expeditions  were  fitted 
out  to  gather  this  valuable  article,  and  in  time  the  coast  became 
well  known  and  reports  of  its  fertility  attracted  attention. 

The  area  of  Brazil  is  estimated  at  3,218,991  square  miles,  a 
country  larger  than  the  entire  United  States,  not  including 
Alaska.  Its  Atlantic  seacoast  line  is  nearly  4,000  miles  in 
length,  its  extreme  width  from  east  to  west  being  about  3,500 
miles.  It  is  traversed  by  mountain  ranges  of  such  height  that 
its  climate  is  more  uniform  than  any  other  habitable  region 
near  the  equator. 

Occupying  the  central  portion  of  the  continent  (see  any 
map  of  South  America)  it  touches  all  the  political  divisions  ex- 
cept Chile,  and  being  situated  in  latitudes  where  evaporation 
and  precipitation  are  largest,  it  has  the  steadiest  and  most  uni- 
formly distributed  rainfall  of  any  part  of  the  globe. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  was  made  by  mutineers  from 


THE  CONGRESSIONAL  BUILDING,  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 


486  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

a  dyewood  ship,  who  were  left  among  the  Indians,  one  of 
whom,  named  Caramuru,  had  a  John  Smith- Pocahontas  experi- 
ence that  ended  in  Caramuru  gaining  an  Indian  bride,  thus 
establishing  a  sort  of  bond  of  union  between  the  white  men  and 
the  Indians,  that  resulted  in  other  white  men  taking  Indian 
wives. 

As  early  as  1516  the  Portuguese  Government  offered  to 
give  farming  implements  to  settlers  in  Brazil,  and  shortly  after 
this  some  sugar-cane  was  planted,  but  the  first  serious  effort  in 
this  industry  was  made  in  1526  when  a  sugar  factory  was  es- 
tablished at  Pernambuco. 

In  1531  the  Government  began  to  realize  that  the  sugar- 
raising  industry  could  be  made  profitable,  and  Martim  Affonso 
da  Souza  was  sent  to  Brazil  with  five  vessels  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  settlers.  Where  the  great  coffee  port  of  Santos  is  now 
located  he  founded  the  first  real  Portuguese  colony.  Six  other 
permanent  colonies  were  established,  and  until  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century  they  flourished. 

During  this  period  there  was  always  more  or  less  trouble 
in  procuring  laborers.  The  Jesuit  priests  had,  by  heroic  self- 
sacrifice  and  arduous  labor,  brought  the  coast  natives  into 
complete  subjection,  but  they  wanted  them  for  themselves  and 
objected  to  them  working  for  the  planters. 

This,  together  with  strife  with  the  Paulist  fathers,  resulted 
in  the  Jesuit  Indians  being  driven  farther  back,  and  to  supplant 
them  the  Portuguese,  who  were  the  pioneers  of  the  African 
slave  trade,  began  to  import  negroes  from  Africa. 

In  1581  Philip  II.  of  Spain  became  also  ruler  of  Portugal, 
and  all  South  America  came  under  the  domination  of  one  mon- 
arch, but  Spain's  supremacy  of  the  world  was  hotly  contested. 
In  1623  she  had  to  let  go  and  the  Dutch  took  Brazil ;  but  in 
1655,  after  eleven  years  of  warfare,  the  Dutch  were  driven  out 
and  Brazil  was  restored  to  Portugal. 

During  this  long  war  many  of  the  negro  slaves  escaped  into 
the  interior  and  formed  settlements,  and  in  the  search  for  these 
escaped  slaves  and  during  their  subjugation,  considerable  ex- 
ploration of  the  interior  was  made.  About  the  year  1670  an 
expedition  that  had  been  out  slave-hunting  returned  to  the 
coast  with  the  news  that  gold  had  been  found.  Intense  excite- 


BRAZIL 


487 


ment  followed  and  there  was  a  rush  to  the  El  Dorado,  some 
three  hundred  miles  inland,  that  threatened  to  depopulate  the 
coast  towns.  It  was  an  important  discovery,  one  State  alone 
having  produced  25,000,000  ounces  of  the  precious  metal  up  to 
the  present  time. 

For  years  Spain  had  claimed  territory  as  far  north  as 
Santos,  while  Portugal  claimed  the  country  as  far  south  as  the 
Rio  de  la  Plata.  As  both  could  not  own  the  1,000  miles  of  coast 
between  these  points  there  was  always  trouble  about  it.  How- 


•    111 


HI  i  if  i  if  IT 

*  -«      ;i      T  ft 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PALACE,  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 

ever,  in  1777  a  treaty  was  established  which  gave  Uruguay  to 
Spain,  and  the  Portuguese  were  allowed  to  keep  all  the  terri- 
tory north  of  that  point. 

Portugal  had  been  an  ally  of  England  for  a  century,  but  in 
1807  Napoleon  demanded  that  she  break  with  England.  The 
Prince  Regent,  who  was  governing  for  his  queen  mother,  at 
that  time  insane,  tried  to  evade  this,  but  when  Napoleon  pre- 
pared for  war  he  gathered  up  all  his  portable  belongings,  and, 


488  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

followed  by  some  15,000  persons,  fled  to  Brazil,  locating  the 
seat  of  the  Portuguese  Government  at  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Brazil 
had  to  assume  the  burdens  as  well  as  reap  the  advantages  of 
being  an  independent  nation.  The  whole  extravagant  Portu- 
guese Government,  with  its  swarm  of  hangers-on,  who  had 
bankrupted  both  Portugal  and  Brazil,  now  looked  to  Brazil 
alone  for  plunder  and  sustenance. 

In  1820  an  outbreak  of  revolutionists  in  Portugal  resulted 
in  a  call  from  the  mother  country  for  the  Prince  Regent  to 
return  or  to  send  his  son  to  rule,  the  powers  of  Europe  being 
agreeable  to  this  move.  Before  any  action  could  be  taken  the 
revolt  spread  to  Brazil,  and  a  constitution  was  demanded.  The 
Prince,  afraid  for  his  life,  sniveled  in  his  palace,  while  his  son 
addressed  the  mob  and  agreed  in  his  father's  name  that  the 
people  should  have  their  way. 

This  act  made  young  Dom  Pedro,  who  was  progressive,  the 
real  leader  in  Brazil,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  packing  his  royal 
father,  and  the  hangers-on  of  his  court,  off  to  Portugal.  The 
seat  of  Government,  however,  was  still  in  Portugal,  but  young 
Pedro,  yielding  to  the  voice  of  the  people,  led  the  revolt  that 
made  Brazil  independent,  and  on  October  12,  1822,  he  was  sol- 
emnly crowned  "Constitutional  Emperor  of  Brazil,"  announcing 
that  he  would  accept  the  constitution  to  be  drawn  by  the 
approaching  constitutional  assembly. 

Unfortunately  his  loud  protestations  of  constitutionalism 
turned  out  to  be  windy  promises,  and  there  followed  twenty 
years  of  bloody  revolts  because  the  Emperor  had  no  idea  what 
real  liberty  meant.  The  first  Congress,  which  met  in  1827, 
voted  as  the  Emperor  dictated,  and  consequently  lost  prestige 
with  the  people,  and  after  four  years  of  bickering  and  rebellions 
he  abdicated  in  favor  of  his  infant  son. 

The  regency  that  followed  Pedro's  expulsion  lacked  in- 
fluence and  prestige,  and  civil  war  broke  out  and  the  turmoil 
became  so  great  that  in  1840,  when  he  was  but  fifteen,  Pedro  II. 
was  declared  eligible  to  take  his  seat  as  Emperor.  Fortunately 
for  his  country,  he  resembled  his  mother  more  than  his  father ; 
he  was  quiet,  studious,  shrank  from  observation  and  ruled  con- 
stitutionally until  the  end. 

In  1843  Dom  Pedro  II.,  being  then  not  quite  eighteen  years 


BRAZIL 


489 


of  age,  was  married  by  proxy  to  Theresina  Christina,  daughter 
of  Francis,  King  of  Naples.  It  was  one  of  those  marriages 
made  for  reasons  of  State,  so  common  in  royal  circles,  and  the 
boy  did  riot  see  his  bride  until  she  came  to  Brazil. 

History  describes  her  as  an  old  maid  and  not  particularly 
good-looking,  so  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  young  Emperor 
turned  his  back  on  her  and  sought  his  chamber  almost  in  tears. 
However,  he  was  a  kindly  soul,  and  after  the  first  disappoint- 
ment was  over  he  realized  he  had  been  given  a  splendid  woman 
as  a  wife,  and  he  made  her  a  good  husband.  Their  two  boys 


EMPEROR  DOM  PEDRO  AND  FAMILY,  THIRTY-FIVE  YEARS  AGO. 

(Dom  Pedro  II.  and  his  daughter  Isabel  are  standing  together;  to  the 
left  is  the  Empress;  to  the  rear  at  the  right  is  Isabel's  husband.) 


490  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

died  in  infancy,  but  in  1846  Isabel  was  born,  and  under  Dom 
Pedro  II.  Brazil  prospered  as  never  before. 

In  1862  Brazil  took  a  hand  in  settling  a  small  rebellion  in 
Uruguay,  which  act  furnished  Lopez  II. ,  Dictator  of  Paraguay, 
a  pretext  to  start  trouble,  which  culminated  in  1865,  when 
Brazil,  Argentina  and  Uruguay  allied  themselves  in  a  war  to 
exterminate  their  unpopular  and  despotic  neighbor.  This  con- 
flict was  not  ended  until  1870,  and  it  cost  Brazil  $300,000,000 
and  50,000  lives,  with  no  material  advantage  except  that  of 
assuring  the  free  navigation  of  the  Paraguay  River. 

With  the  close  of  the  Paraguayan  war  a  series  of  move- 
ments began,  which  ended,  twenty  years  later,  in  the  overthrow 
of  the  empire.  The  abolition  movement,  which  had  begun  in 
1848,  finally  assumed  alarming  proportions,  the  advocates  of  a 
republic  having  sown  discontent,  and,  while  the  country  con- 
tinued to  prosper,  these  great  questions  kept  the  public  in 
constant  turmoil. 

In  Brazil  the  blacks  did  not  reproduce  as  rapidly  as  the 
whites,  and  when  importing  them  ceased,  their  number  de- 
creased until  in  1873  there  were  only  about  1,600,000,  as  com- 
pared with  2,500,000  in  1856.  Slaves  furnished  nearly  all  the 
labor,  and  it  was  believed  that  emancipation  would  result  in 
agricultural  collapse. 

The  Emperor,  however,  was  too  much  of  a  Christian  not  to 
realize  the  moral  side  of  the  question,  so  there  was  no  opposi- 
tion from  the  throne  when  a  law  passed  the  Congress  declaring 
all  children  born  thereafter  free,  though  bound  until  they  were 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  Under  the  influence  of  this  measure 
the  number  of  slaves  decreased  to  743,000  in  1887,  when  a  final 
attack  was  made  upon  the  institution  of  slavery. 

The  poor  old  Emperor  had  gone  abroad,  sick  and  failing, 
leaving  his  daughter  Isabel  as  regent,  and,  in  1888,  she  an- 
nounced from  the  throne  that  the  imperial  program  was  abso- 
lute, immediate,  noncompensated  emancipation.  The  law  was 
passed  with  scarcely  a  murmur  and  the  Princess  signed  the 
document,  though  she  was  warned  that  her  act  meant  the  end 
of  the  empire. 

With  slavery  abolished  the  next  step  was  to  establish  a  re- 
public, and  the  propagandists  of  this  movement  became  more 


BRAZIL 


491 


active  than  ever.  The  Emperor's  health  had  grown  more 
feeble,  and  the  Princess  Isabel,  who  was  unpopular,  was  in 
power.  Her  parsimonious  French  husband,  the  Comte  d'Eu, 
was  bitterly  disliked,  and  while  there  was  but  small  desire  to 
dethrone  the  Emperor,  the  prospect  of  Isabel  and  her  husband 
as  the  rulers  inflamed  the  spirit  of  revolt. 

On  November  14,  1889,  the  republicans,  after  a  show  of  mili- 
tary force,  quietly  deposed  the  Emperor,  and  Brazil  became  a 
republic  the  following  day.  On  November  i6th  the  stricken 
Emperor  and  his  family  were  placed  on  board  a  ship  bound  for 
Lisbon,  Portugal. 

The  provisional  Government  continued  in  power  fourteen 
months,  and  during  that  time  organized  the  provinces  into 
States  after  the  pattern  of  the  United  States  of  North  America. 
Church  and  State  were  separated,  universal  suffrage  estab- 
lished, civil  marriage  was  introduced,  and  every  vestige  of 
monarchical  custom  was  obliterated. 

The  constitution  was  adopted  in  February,  1891,  and 
Deodoro  da  Fonseca  was  elected  President.  Thus  Brazil,  pos- 
sibly the  richest  country  in  the  world,  within  four  hundred 
years  had  the  Indians,  Portuguese,  Spanish,  Dutch,  French,  and 
a  monarch  of  her  own,  as  rulers,  and  is  now  a  splendid  republic. 
Here,  as  in  almost  every  quarter  of  the  world,  the  progressive 
evolution  of  human  government  has  been  sure  and  satisfactory. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
A  BRAZILIAN-AMERICAN  COLONY. 

THE  milreis  is  the  unit  of  value  in  Brazil,  and  is  worth 
thirty-three  cents  in  United  States  money.  It  might  be 
well  to  amplify  this  by  saying  that  the  nominal  value  of  the 
milreis  is  fifty-five  cents,  but  thirty-three  cents  is  the  real  value, 
because  Brazil  has  only  about  $100,000,000  in  gold  coin,  while 
it  has  upward  of  $400,000,000  in  paper  money  and  about 
$25,000,000  in  silver  in  circulation. 

The  United  States  does  not  cut  much  of  a  figure  in  a  finan- 
cial way  in  Brazil ;  as  England  is  pre-eminent  in  Argentina,  so 
we  find  France  pre-eminent  in  Brazil.  The  French  financiers 
are  securing  most  of  the  "plums"  that  go  to  outsiders,  while 
French  manufacturers  have  a  large  percentage  of  the  country's 
trade. 

The  United  States  Government  is  making  moves  to  the 
same  end  in  Central  America,  and  to  some  extent  in  Argentina. 
The  recently  made  loan  to  Honduras  and  the  building  of  battle- 
ships for  Argentina  by  ship-building  firms  of  our  country  tend 
to  strengthen  trade  relations  with  our  Southern  cousins,  so  we 
are  gradually  taking  advantage  of  opportunities  long  neglected. 

The  Brazilian  Government  is  now  building  a  large  ship  yard 
on  the  southern  coast,  the  concession  having  been  let  to  a 
private  corporation,  the  Government  guaranteeing  six  per  cent 
on  the  investment.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Brazilian  Govern- 
ment to  build  its  own  warships. 

In  speaking  to  the  Admiral  of  the  Brazilian  navy  about  the 
mutiny,  which  no  doubt  readers  will  recall  as  occurring  some 
time  ago,  and  for  which  seventy  mutineers  were  executed,  I 
inquired  if  the  conditions  were  not  bad  in  the  navy. 

He  smilingly  replied  that  they  were  no  worse  than  in  other 
navies,  and  reminded  me  that  we  had  had  a  revolt  in  our  own 
navy,  and.  that  the  son  of  a  former  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 

492 


BRAZIL  493 

a  minor  naval  officer,  was  executed  with  two  others  for 
inciting  the  revolt.  (I  have  investigated  this  story  since  my 
return  to  the  United  States,  and  have  found  it  true.)  Which 
goes  to  show  that  we  Americans  have  no  license  to  get  "puffed 
up"  and  criticise  others  too  liberally;  we  have  many  defects, 
and  if  one  goes  abroad  and  gets  "chesty"  one  is  very  likely  to 
have  these  weak  spots  pointed  out.  However,  when  other 
nations  fail  to  admire  certain  qualities  of  ours  the  motive  may 
not  always  spring  from  self-satisfaction,  as  with  a  North 
Carolina  colored  gentleman  some  one  has  told  about.  This 
man  was  honest  and  industrious,  but,  in  the  opinion  of  the  new 
minister,  unsociable. 

"Neighborliness,  my  dear  friend,"  said  the  preacher,  "is 
brotherliness.  Do  you  take  the  trouble  to  see  much  of  your 
neighbors  ?" 

"Ah  recjcon  ah  sees  as  much  of  them  as  dey  sees  of  me," 
Rastus  replied. 

"Perhaps,"  said  the  clergyman,  "but  do  you  love  your 
neighbor  as  yourself  ?" 

"Ah  reckon  ah  does,  pahson,"   Rastus  replied,  "but  you 
know,  suh,  I  ain't  p'tic'larly  stuck  on  mahself  neither." 
The  reader  can  make  his  own  application. 

In  religion  Brazil,  like  all  other  South  American  countries, 
is  decidedly  Catholic.  However,  since  the  fall  of  the  empire  and 
establishment  of  the  republic,  Church  and  State  are  entirely 
separate,  the  relation  formerly  existing  having  been  eliminated 
entirely  by  the  constitution,  which,  as  stated  in  another  chapter, 
is  modeled  after  that  of  the  United  States.  Brazil  is  now  a 
great  field  for  the  missionaries  of  all  churches,  which  thought 
leads  me  to  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  and  my  personal  experi- 
ence in  visiting  Villa  Americana,  as  it  was  there  I  met  more 
missionaries  than  at  any  other  place  in  all  Brazil.  Villa  Ameri- 
cana, or  to  put  it  plainly,  American  Village,  has  a  remarkable 
history,  which  I  will  briefly  relate. 

In  1866  there  sailed  from  the  port  of  New  Orleans  two 
ships  carrying  365  men,  women  and  children — about  eighty 
families — who  had  left  their  homes  in  Georgia  and  Alabama 
to  escape  the  unpleasant  experiences  of  the  reconstruction 
period  that  followed  the  Civil  War. 


494 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


One  of  the  ships,  carrying  about  one  hundred  of  the  party, 
was  bound  for  a  point  in  Mexico,  the  other  for  Brazil.  Their 
object  was  to  go  to  some  country  where  slavery  was  legal, 
where  the  climate  was  somewhat  similar  to  their  own  beloved 
South,  and  where  they  could  raise  cotton,  cane,  rice,  tobacco 
and  watermelons  under  the  conditions  to  which  they  were  ac- 
customed. 

It  so  happened,  however,  that  the  Mexican  insurrection  was 


A   BIRD  S-EYE  VIEW  ( 


at  its  hottest  at  this  time,  Maximilian,  the  Mexican  Emperor, 
having  just  been  executed,  so  the  ship  that  had  sailed  for  Mexi- 
co changed  its  course  and  started  after  the  one  on  its  way  to 
Brazil.  Off  the  coast  of  Cuba  the  former  was  wrecked,  and 
the  passengers  were  transferred  to  the  other  ship. 

The  ex-Americans  landed  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,   Brazil,  on 


BRAZIL 


495 


April  22,  1867,  and  after  some  negotiation  secured  free  a  large 
tract  of  land  from  the  Government.  On  this  land  they  started  a 
town  known  as  Xirica.  In  a  short  time,  however,  they  found 
this  locality  too  low  and  damp,  so  they  moved  to  a  point  one 
hundred  miles  north  of  the  city  of  Sao  Paulo,  where  they  pur- 
chased a  large  tract  of  land  for  five  dollars  an  acre,  and 
founded  the  town  known  as  Villa  Americana.  This  land  is 
now  worth  twenty-five  dollars  an  acre. 


I  LLA  AMERICANA,  BRAZIL. 


The  elevation  here  is  about  3,000  feet  above  sea  level,  and, 
though  it  is  only  twenty-five  degrees  south  of  the  equator,  the 
climate  is  ideal.  There  is  no  frost,  nor  is  there  any  excessively 
warm  weather,  and  one  may  sleep  under  a  blanket  all  the  sum- 
mer months. 

Although  the  soil  is  adapted  to  the  growth  of  coffee,  the 


496 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Americans  did  not  attempt  to  cultivate  this  important  article  of 
commerce,  as  they  knew  nothing  about  it.  They  confined  their 
efforts  to  cotton,  cane,  tobacco  and  watermelons,  as  they  had  at 
home,  and  in  due  time  found,  also,  that  they  could  grow  upland 
rice  successfully. 

In  growing  rice  they  plow  the  ground,  sow  the  grain  as  we 
do  wheat,  and  harvest  it  in  the  same  manner.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  flood  the  ground  with  water,  as  is  done  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  United  States.  The  average  rainfall  in  this  section 
is  forty-five  inches  per  year,  as  compared  with  thirty-two  inches 
in  the  United  States. 

While  they  raise  on  an  average  of  one  and  one-half  bales 
of  cotton  to  the  acre,  and  are  successful  with  rice,  tobacco  and 
cane,  one  of  their  chief  products  is  watermelons,  and  for  this 
reason  Villa  Americana  is  known  as  the  watermelon  city  of 
Brazil,  over  2,000  cars  of  the  luscious  melons  being  shipped 
every  year. 

One  of  the  oldest  of  the  settlers,  a  Mr.  Pyle,  formerly  of 
Georgia,  told  me  that  in  one  day  he  had  hauled  and  shipped 
forty-five  six-mule  wagon  loads  of  melons.  During  the  melon 
season  long  lines  of  wagons  stand  waiting  their  turn  at  the 
railway  station  in  Villa  Americana. 

One  of  the  pho- 
tographs I  secured 
shows  a  small  boy 
standing  beside 
three  prize  water- 
melons, the  largest 
of  which  weighed 
eighty  pounds.  If 
there  was  any  one 
place  where  m  y 
colored  serving 
man,  Charlie,  felt 
perfectly  at  home, 
it  was  at  Villa 
Americana  among 
the  watermelons. 
It  was  all  I  could 


THE  BOY  AND  THE  MELONS  AT  VILLA 
AMERICANA,  BRAZIL. 


BRAZIL 


497 


HAULING  MELONS  TO  THE  STATION,  VILLA  AMERICANA,   BRAZIL. 

do  to  get  him  to  leave  the  town.  I  secured  several  snapshots 
of  him  with  his  ebony  face  buried  in  different  big  melons,  but 
on  looking  for  them  later  I  failed  to  find  them.  Charlie  was 
especially  fond  of  those  pictures,  spending  hours  looking  at 
them,  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  one  day  on  our  way 
home  he  was  so  moved  by  the  sight  of  his  features  submerged 
in  a  particularly  juicy  melon  that  he  ate  the  films ! 

The  American  settlers  at  Villa  Americana  have  built  schools, 
churches,  and  good  roads,  and  have  raised  the  standard  of 
citizenship  in  this  part  of  Sao  Paulo.  However,  only  about 
twenty  of  the  old  families  are  left,  the  others  having  become 
extinct,  or  returned  to  the  United  States. 

One  of  the  typical  families  of  the  settlement  is  that  of 
Charles  M.  Hall,  who  has  prospered  financially  and  otherwise. 
He  has  devoted  his  energies  principally  to  the  raising  of  sugar- 
cane, only  a  limited  quantity  of  which  is  grown,  because  there 
are  no  sugar  refineries  to  use  the  product.  The  principal  use  of 
32 


498  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  cane  has  been  for  the  manufacture  of  rum  to  sell  to  the 
natives. 

Needless  to  say,  Mr.  Hall  in  time  became  quite  wealthy,  and 
as  his  wealth  grew  he  became  public-spirited.  Among  other 
things  he  did  was  to  build  a  Protestant  church,  which  is  used 
jointly  by  the  Presbyterians,  Methodists  and  Baptists.  At  a 
missionary  meeting  in  Villa  Americana  a  large  number  of  Pres- 
byterian ministers  were  present,  and  Mr.  Hall  and  his  family, 
which  included  four  daughters,  took  a  great  interest  in  these 
preachers  and  their  work,  an  interest  which  culminated  in  each 
of  his  daughters  falling  in  love  with  and  marrying  a  Presby- 
terian minister. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  three  of  the  couples  at  Mr. 
Hall's  while  there.  The  fourth  son-in-law  died  some  years  ago 
of  yellow  fever,  and  his  wife  went  back  to  his  home  in  Virginia. 
In  the  course  of  conversation  at  dinner  it  was  suggested  that 
"mother  had  raised  the  girls  for  the  ministers,"  to  which  all 
agreed,  and  I  added  that  evidently  father  had  raised  the  price. 
There  was  no  contradiction  to  this,  though  I  observed  some 
suppressed  smiles  I  did  not  quite  understand — for  at  that  time  I 
did  not  know  that  father  was  so  extensively  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  cane  rum. 

Later  in  the  afternoon  I  mentioned  the  remark  to  an  old 
American  and  he  laughed  till  he  burst  off  a  few  buttons.  He 
said  I  had  hit  the  nail  on  the  head,  and  then  proceeded  to  give 
me  the  history  of  how  Mr.  Hall  had  gained  his  wealth. 

I  discovered  that  many  of  the  American  families  had 
changed  their  names  by  adding  Portuguese  affixes  or  suffixes  so 
that  they  could  be  easily  pronounced  by  the  natives.  In  simple 
American  names  vowels  are  frequently  silent  in  the  pronuncia- 
tion ;  in  the  Portuguese  language  every  vowel  has  a  sound,  and 
the  changes  were  necessary  so  that  the  natives  could  handle 
the  names  easily. 

In  my  judgment  the  Americans  of  this  colony  gained  noth- 
ing but  temporary  peace  of  mind  by  leaving  their  own  country. 
Many  of  them  have  been  successful,  but  they  would  have  been 
as  successful  in  Alabama  and  Georgia,  and  the  increase  in  the 
value  of  land  has  been  greater  in  those  two  States  than  it  has 
been  in  Brazil.  Slavery  was  abolished  in  Brazil  about  twenty 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  GREAT  MUSEUM  AT  SAO  PAULO.      A 
MONUMENT  TO  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  BRAZIL. 


500 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


years  after  they  went  there,  so  they  were  forced  to  contend 
with  the  same  labor  conditions  they  would  have  had  at  home. 

I  found  a  condition  existing  in  this  region  that  made  me 
stop  and  think.  All  over  South  America  I  had  observed  that 
there  was  more  or  less  of  the  mouth  and  hoof  disease  that 
attacks  cattle,  although  in  the  old  wild  condition  cattle  grew 
and  thrived  to  the  full  extent  where  there  were  grass  and  water 
for  them.  With  the  importation  of  finely  bred  cattle,  however, 
came  an  increase  in  cattle  diseases  in  all  localities. 

At  Villa  Americana  the  conditions  seemed  excellent  for 
stock ;  the  climate  is  fine,  there  is  plenty  of  water  and  grass  and 
the  elevation  makes  the  drainage  perfect.  However,  the  dread 
mouth  and  hoof  disease  followed  breeding  up  the  cattle,  and 
they  discovered  that  it  was  necessary  to  breed  downward 
and  return  as  near  to  the  original  stock  as  possible,  when  the 
disease  disappeared. 

My  observation  in  tropical  Africa,  while  conducting  the 
Saturday  Blade's  balloonograph  and  shooting  expedition,  was 
that  the  hump-backed  cattle  belonging  to  the  negroes,  which 
were  not  crossed  and  bred  up,  were  free  of  disease,  while  the 
high-grade  cattle,  bred  up  by  imported  stock,  were  subject  to 


A  PANORAMIC  VIEW  OF  THE 


BRAZIL  501 

many  diseases  and  died  so  rapidly  that  sections,  sometimes 
fifty  to  one  hundred  miles  in  extent,  were  quarantined. 

The  city  of  Sao  Paulo  reminds  me  very  much  of  a  prosper- 
ous German  manufacturing  city,  though  the  laborers  are  prin- 
cipally Italians.  The  manufacturing  institutions  are  varied, 
rather  than  large,  running  through  the  whole  list  of  human 
needs,  and  the  manufacturers  are  prosperous,  as  they  have  the 
benefit  of  an  almost  prohibitive  tariff.  Wages  paid  to  employes 
are  better  than  in  any  place  in  Europe,  and  in  some  instances 
are  almost  equal  to  those  in  the  United  States,  and  the  working- 
men  live  well. 

But  little  of  the  manufactures  are  exported,  the  home  de- 
mand being  equal  to  the  output  and  the  prices  high.  Sao  Paulo 
is  the  richest  State  in  Brazil,  and  if  separated  from  the  republic 
and  its  taxes,  of  which  it  pays  a  very  large  proportion,  it  would 
possibly  be  the  most  prosperous  independent  nation  in  the 
world  on  account  of  its  natural  products.  The  one  item  of 
coffee  alone  produces  $120,000,000  a  year. 

The  city  of  Sao  Paulo  has  grown  from  80,000  inhabitants 
to  500,000  in  the  short  space  of  ten  years,  which  is  an  indica- 
tion of  its  prosperity.  There  are  a  number  of  beautiful  and 


IITY  OF  SAO  PAULO,  BRAZIL. 


BRAZIL 


503 


costly  buildings,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  Municipal 
Theater,  which  has  just  been  finished  at  a  cost  of  $3,000,000. 

The  street  car  system  is  owned  by  a  Canadian  company, 
which  also  furnishes  electricity  for  many  of  the  manufactories. 
The  street  cars  used  are  huge  affairs,  and  either  they  are  too 
wide,  or  some  of  the  streets  are  too  narrow,  for  in  several 
places  the  cars  project  over  the  sidewalks  to  the  menace  of 
pedestrians.  Coming  over  the  crest  of  a  hill  the  front  end  of 
these  big  cars  rears  up  like  a  horse  prancing  on  its  hind  legs, 
and  there  is  a  terrifying  thump  when  the  front  trucks  over- 
balance the  rear  end  and  drop  back  to  the  rails. 

The  street  cars  of  Sao  Paulo  have  killed  many  persons, 
which,  together  with  the  fact  that  the  company  refuses  to  pay 
over  fifty  dollars  for  any  one  death,  has  caused  considerable 
sentiment  against  the  corporation,  and  it  is  having  a  difficult 
time  in  securing  a  renewal 
of  its  franchise.    The  man- 
ager  of    the    system    is    a 
Chicago    man,    and    from 
what   I   learned   I   imagine 
that  he  "has  troubles  of  his 
own." 

In  Sao  Paulo  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  the 
American  vice  consul,  Mr. 
Lee,  and  his  interesting 
family.  Mr.  Lee  married 
a  beautiful  and  talented 
Brazilian  lady,  and  is  a 
successful  merchant,  in  ad- 
dition to  attending  to  the 
requirements  of  our  Gov- 
ernment in  a  highly  efficient 
manner. 

Foreign  capital  has  done 
much  for  Brazil  in  the  past, 
but  it  is  somewhat  different 
now.  In  former  times 
every  new  enterprise  was 

A  RESIDENCE  AMONG  THE  PALM  TREES  IN 
SAO  PAULO. 


504 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


given  a  welcome  and  concessions  were  easy  to  secure,  but  now 
the  wealthy  natives  are  jealously  guarding  against  foreign 
capital  securing  anything  worth  while.  This  is  especially  true 
in  regard  to  railroads,  both  steam  and  electric,  and  in  hydro- 
electric development. 

The  hotels  in  Sao  Paulo  are  abominable,  and  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  get  rooms.  This  condition  was  reversed  in  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  where  there  is  apparently  less  "boom"  than  is 
noticeable  in  Sao  Paulo.  At  the  hotel  in  Rio  where  I  stopped  I 
counted  twenty-eight  Americans  seated  on  the  veranda  one 
evening,  and  all  praised  the  conditions  there. 

Sao  Paulo  has  many  educational  institutions,  the  most  popu- 
lar of  which  is  McKenzie  College,  which  was  established  by  a 


AMERICAN    VICE-CONSUL,    MR.    LEE,    AND    HIS    FAMILY,    ON    THE 
VERANDA  OF   HIS  RESIDENCE,   SAO  PAULO. 


BRAZIL 


505 


WATCHING  A  RUGBY  FOOTBALL  GAME  AT  SAO  PAULO,   BRAZIL. 

Canadian.  It  is  patronized  largely  by  the  Americans,  who  send 
their  children  to  it  on  account  of  its  superior  educational  ad- 
vantages. This  institution  has  a  first-class  technical  department 
and  has  graduated  many  high-class  engineers.  There  is  a  great 
demand  throughout  all  South  America  for  engineers  who  can 
speak  Portuguese  and  Spanish,  a  demand  that  is  being  met  by 
men  of  English  and  French  descent,  there  being  a  tendency 
among  the  native  Portuguese  and  Spanish  young  men  to  be- 
come "doctors"  of  law  or  medicine,  or  to  take  up  politics.  They 
do  not  fancy  the  hardships  encountered  in  the  life  of  an  en- 
gineer, preferring  the  ease  of  city  life. 

There  is  a  very  large  colony  of  English  people  in  Sao  Paulo, 
as  was  evidenced  by  a  Rugby  football  game  I  saw  there.  The 
immense  crowd  was  just  as  enthusiastic  as  any  you  ever  saw  in 
the  United  States.  Horse-racing  is  well  patronized  in  this 
region  by  the  public,  as  are  other  outdoor  sports. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

IN  SOUTHERN  BRAZIL. 

I  ONCE  knew  a  country  merchant  who  had  a  sign  on  the 
door  of  his  store  which  read,  "Come  in  Without  Knocking. 
Go  Out  the  Same  Way."  Good  advice,  especially  for  personal 
and  private  matters,  but  one  could  hardly  give  a  valuable 
description  of  a  country  without  some  "knocking."  If  compe- 
tition is  the  life  of  trade,  criticism  is  the  life  of  truth.  How- 
ever, in  describing  Brazil  I  find  it  difficult  to  keep  from 
continually  praising,  since  the  beauty  and  natural  advantages 
of  the  country  are  so  great.  Nevertheless,  they  have  bad  and 
foolish  people  in  Brazil  the  same  as  in  other  countries,  and  it 
is  Heaven  only  to  people  who  "get  to  Heaven"  by  knowing  how 
to  make  one  on  earth. 

No  story  of  Brazil  would  be  complete  without  special  ref- 
erence to  the  southern  part  which,  by  reason  of  its  geographi- 
cal position,  belongs  to  that  section  of  South  America  where 
cattle  raising  and  agricultural  pursuits  are  the  greatest  source 
of  wealth.  The  development  of  this  section  of  Brazil  is  of 
vital  interest  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  for  the  prices 
of  grain  and  live  stock  are  in  a  great  measure  controlled  by 
conditions  in  Argentina,  Uruguay,  Paraguay  and  southern 
Brazil,  because  they  are  our  competitors  in  the  markets  of  the 
world. 

The  section  is  divided  into  three  States — Parana,  Santa 
Catharina  and  Rio  Grande  do  Sul.  Originally  Parana  was  a 
part  of  Sao  Paulo,  from  which  it  was  separated  in  1853,  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Dom  Pedro.  Possessing  an  area  of  86,000 
square  miles — larger  than  the  State  of  Minnesota — Parana 
has  two  distinct  zones;  the  lower,  consisting  of  a  strip  of  land 
along  the  coast,  is  semi-tropical  and  produces  all  the  fruits 
and  vegetables  of  a  climate  that  is  always  warm ;  the  upper 
zone  consists  of  plateaux  which  have  the  climate  and  soil  of 


508  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  temperate  zone,  and  yield  the  products  usually  harvested 
in  such  latitudes. 

The  series  of  plateaux,  which  stretch  westward  from  the 
coast  range  of  mountains  to  the  Parana  River,  is  the  most 
thickly  settled  section  of  the  interior,  and  is  in  a  flourishing 
state  of  cultivation.  The  capital,  Curytiba,  and  the  farming 
communities,  are  situated  on  this  table-land,  the  western 
portion  of  which  is  especially  adapted  to  cattle  raising.  This 
section  of  the  country  is  well  watered.,  That  portion  of  Parana 
which  lies  along  the  seashore  is  generally  flat  and  marshy,  and 
the  climate  less  agreeable  than  that  of  the  interior.  This  State, 
which  possesses  area  and  resources  sufficient  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  population  of  many  millions,  should  attract  an 
increasing  tide  of  immigration.  Its  progress  and  prosperity  de- 
pend only  upon  the  increase  of  population — which  at  present 
does  not  exceed  550,000 — and  the  extension  of  railroads  to  give 
it  efficient  transportation. 

From  Paranagua,  the  seaport  through  which  the  main 
traffic  of  Parana  is  conducted,  a  railway  stretches  back  into 
the  interior,  curves  around  to  the  northeast  after  leaving 
Curytiba,  and  at  length  reaches  the  city  of  Sao  Paulo.  The 
road  is  a  masterpiece  of  engineering  and  was  built  in  1883  by 
a  Belgian  corporation.  A  trip  over  this  line  affords  a  view 
of  unusual  scenic  magnificence. 

Curytiba,  the  capital,  is  a  city  of  about  55,000  inhabitants, 
and  is  situated  on  the  plateau,  about  sixty  miles  from  the 
coast,  at  an  elevation  of  some  three  thousand  feet  above  sea 
level.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  cities  in  southern  Brazil.  It  is 
a  thoroughly  modern  town,  with  spacious,  well-paved  streets, 
lighted  with  electricity  and  traversed  in  all  directions  by 
street  cars. 

On  the  plateaux  barley,  oats,  wheat,  rye,  corn  and  pota- 
toes are  cultivated,  and  grape  raising  for  the  production  of 
wine  is  highly  developed.  This  State  possesses  exceedingly 
valuable  forests  and  mines.  Large  fortunes  have  been  made 
in  the  yerba  mate  business,  which  flourishes  all  through  the 
State  where  the  altitude  is  above  2,000  feet. 

Parana  ranks  eighth  among  the  twenty-two  States  of  Brazil 
in  the  value  of  its  export  trade,  and  with  the  completion  of 


BRAZIL  509 

projected  railroad  lines,  affording  better  transportation  from 
the  interior,  will  take  a  still  higher  rank. 

The  State  of  Santa  Catharina,  which  lies  south  of  Parana, 
is  only  about  half  the  size  of  the  latter,  and  as  its  surface 
corresponds  to  that  of  Parana  the  pursuits  of  the  people  and 
its  products  are  quite  similar,  though  leaning  more  to  the  tropi- 
cal on  account  of  its  longer  coast  line  and  consequent  greater 
area  of  low  land  where  the  weather  is  warmer. 

The  fertile  soil  and  salubrious  climate  of  Santa  Catharina 
make  it  especially  adapted  to  colonization,  and  nowhere  in 
Brazil  have  the  foreign  communities  flourished  better.  Con- 
sidering its  size,  Santa  Catharina  is  better  supplied  with  rail- 
roads than  any  other  section  of  Brazil,  and  more  lines  are 
projected. 

Florianopolis,  the  capital  of  the  State,  is  situated  on  an 
island  by  the  same  name.  The  city  faces  the  mainland,  from 
which  it  is  separated  by  a  strait  about  five  miles  in  width.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  and  beautiful  places  in  Brazil, 
its  residence  section  being  noted  for  the  many  beautiful  homes 
that  overlook  the  Atlantic. 

To  the  south  of  Santa  Catharina  lies  the  State  of  Rio 
Grande  do  Sul,  one  of  the  most  important  divisions  of 
Brazil.  The  chief  revenue  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  is  derived 
from  the  pasture  lands,  upon  which  graze  thousands  of  herds. 

The  xarqueados,  or  slaughtering  establishments,  where  the 
dried  beef,  called  xarque,  is  prepared  for  market,  present 
an  interesting,  though  rather  gruesome  appearance  when  the 
work  is  going  on.  The  meat  is  dried  in  the  sun,  and  an  exten- 
sive area  is  covered  with  the  racks  on  which  the  beef  is  sus- 
pended until  ready  for  shipment.  The  dried  beef  exports 
amount  annually  to  more  than  $6,000,000,  the  establishments 
at  the  town  of  Pelotas  alone  slaughtering  half  a  million  head 
of  cattle  for  this  purpose.  Without  doubt  this  is  the  greatest 
"jerked  meat"  region  in  the  world. 

The  climate  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  is  moderate  and  agree- 
able, though  the  four  seasons  are  distinct,  as  in  all  temperate 
zones.  In  the  winter  the  cold  winds  from  the  Andes  Moun- 
tains cause  freezing  weather  in  the  more  elevated  regions, 
while  in  the  summer  the  heat  is  sometimes  extreme. 


BRAZIL  511 

However,  in  Brazil,  as  in  all  countries,  the  effect  of  dif- 
ference in  temperature  and  altitude  is  noticeable  in  the  charac- 
ter and  energy  of  the  people ;  residents  of  hot,  low  regions  are 
apt  to  be  less  energetic  and  prosperous  than  people  who  live 
in  high,  cool  regions. 

They  tell  of  a  man  in  Indiana,  who  lived  down  on  the 
Wabash  bottoms,  and  who  was  so  lazy  and  worthless  that 
there  was  talk  of  burying  him  alive.  He  said  he  didn't  care 
if  they  did.  Finally  he  went  to  North  Dakota  and  took  up 
some  land.  He  changed  at  once  and  became  a  tremendous 
worker  and  grew  rich.  Wishing  to  take  life  easier,  he  sold 
out  and  went  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  where,  in  the  heat,  he 
grew  almost  too  lazy  to  chew  his  food  or  dress  himself  and, 
as  a  consequence,  lost  all  his  money.  A  friend  got  hold  of 
him  and  took  him  to  cold  Manitoba,  where,  report  says,  he  is 
now  "working  like  a  nailer,"  and  getting  rich  again.  He  was 
a  human  barometer,  you  see,  as  we  all  are  in  some  degree. 
One  sees  the  effect  of  climate  reflected  in  the  looks  and  condi- 
tions of  people  all  through  South  America. 

Most  of  the  colonists  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  are  Germans ; 
in  fact,  they  form  a  large  percentage  of  the  population,  though 
occupying  only  about  one-third  of  the  State.  Following  the 
plan  of  sending  European  colonists  to  the  section  of  Brazil 
best  suited  to  them  by  reason  of  climate  and  labor  conditions, 
the  Germans  naturally  went  to  the  highlands  of  Rio  Grande 
do  Sul.  They  prospered,  and  their  friends  and  relatives  came 
in  droves;  they  formed  communities,  towns  and  cities  where 
the  German  language  is  spoken  and  German  customs  prevail. 

The  chief  seaport  of  the  State  is  the  city  of  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul,  situated  at  the  southern  end  of  a  large  lake  called  Lagoa 
dos  Patos,  where  a  narrow  strait  connects  the  lake  with  the 
ocean.  A  big  sandbar  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  having 
been  removed  by  dredging,  ocean-going  vessels  now  call  at 
this  port,  a  fact  that  has  greatly  aided  the  commerce  of  the 
State. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

NORTH  AND  WEST  OF  RIO. 

EVERYBODY  envies  the  traveling  man — except  the  travel- 
ing man  himself ;  he  soon  wearies  of  the  constant  change 
and  starts  on  each  successive  trip  with  about  the  same  eagerness 
that  is  displayed  by  a  small  boy  who  is  forced  to  go  to  school 
when  the  fishing  is  fine. 

After  an  extended  stay  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  where  I  made 
many  pleasant  acquaintances  and  stopped  at  a  really  good 
hotel,  I  felt  something  like  the  traveling  salesman — or  the 
small  boy — when  I  realized  that  again  it  was  time  to  move  on. 

Journeying  north  from  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  my  first  stop 
was  in  the  State  of  Espirito  Santo,  the  capital  of  which  is 
Victoria,  one  of  the  oldest  cities  of  Brazil,  though  it  possesses 
only  about  20,000  population.  This  little  State,  which  has  an 
area  of  only  25,000  square  miles,  ranks  third  in  Brazil  in  the 
production  of  coffee.  Aside  from  coffee,  its  principal  pro- 
ducts are  sugar  and  rice. 

I  was  glad  to  note  that  the  people  of  this  State  recognize 
the  importance  of  good  roads,  and  that  the  Government  was 
sparing  no  expense  in  improving  and  extending  the  highways. 
Railway  construction  is  also  being  pushed,  and  the  Federai 
Government  is  improving  the  harbor  at  Victoria  at  a  cost  of 
$5,000,000.  In  the  opinion  of  many  the  harbor  at  Victoria, 
while  smaller  than  that  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  is  equally  as  beau- 
tiful. 

Northwest  of  Espirito  Santo  lies  the  great  State  of  Minas 
Geraes,  which  covers  an  area  of  250,000  square  miles  in  the 
heart  of  a  rich  mineral  and  agricultural  region,  the  greater 
portion  of  which  is  an  elevated  plateau,  forming  part  of  the 
vast  table-land  of  Brazil.  Although  it  is  one  of  the  interior 
States,  easy  access  to  the  ports  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Victoria 
and  excellent  railway  facilities  afford  every  advantage  in  the 

512 


33 


514  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

promotion  of  trade  relations,  while  in  climate  and  fertility  no 
State  in  Brazil  is,  probably,  more  favored. 

The  capital  of  the  State  is  Bello  Horizonte,  a  new  and 
flourishing  city  of  over  20,000  inhabitants,  which  is  only  ten 
years  old.  The  city  is  remarkable  for  its  wide,  shaded  ave- 
nues and  the  distinctly  modern  architecture  of  its  buildings. 
In  driving  over  its  boulevards  one  is  reminded  of  our  capital 
city,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Governor's  palace  is  one  of  the  handsomest  State 
capitols  in  all -Brazil,  and  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $500,000  gold. 
Not  only  is  the  city  well  paved,  well  lighted  and  provided  with 
a  complete  system  of  electric  street  cars,  but  its  waterworks 
system  is  a  marvel  and  the  drainage  is  perfect. 

The  fertility  of  the  soil  of  this  State  permits  the  cultivation 
of  all  kinds  of  products,  and  upon  the  plains  of  the  upper 
plateaux  cattle  raising  is  extensive.  Since  the  introduction  of 
modern  implements  and  machinery  here  crops  of  all  kinds 
have  greatly  increased. 

One  of  the  chief  products  of  Minas  Geraes  is  coffee, 
which  is  grown  on  an  extensive  scale  in  the  southern  section. 
In  order  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  cereals  the  State  has 
adopted  a  protective  tariff  on  all  grains  that  can  be  grown 
on  its  soil.  There  are  unlimited  opportunities  for  the  small 
farmer  in  this  quarter  of  the  world. 

Railways  traverse  this  State  in  every  direction,  there  being 
upward  of  3,000  miles  in  operation  and  more  in  the  course  of 
construction.  Few  countries  can  boast  of  such  an  abundance 
of  mineral  wealth  as  Minas  Geraes,  which  derives  its  name 
(meaning  "general  mines")  from  the  industry  that  first  made 
it  conspicuous. 

Gold  was  discovered  in  this  territory  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  since  which  time  the  amount  of  this  glittering  "root 
of  all  evil"  taken  from  its  mines  is  said  to  run  into  the  billions 
of  dollars.  No  accurate  account  was  kept  of  the  gold  pro- 
duced during  the  first  century  after  its  discovery. 

The  diamond  mines  of  this  State  have  been  famous  for 
nearly  two  centuries,  the  quality  of  its  gems  surpassing  those 
of  any  other  country.  One  of  the  historic  gems  of  the  world, 
the  "Braganza,"  came  from  a  mine  near  Caethe.  "The  Re- 


BRAZIL 


gent,"  another  great  diamond,  worth  several  millions,  was 
found  by  a  man  who,  convicted  of  a  capital  offense,  was  con- 
demned to  spend  his  days  in  the  wilds.  Through  a  priest  he 
sent  the  valuable  gem  to  the  Governor  and  received  in  return 
a  pardon  for  his  offense.  Rather  lucky  and  romantic,  wasn't 
it? 

The  "Estrella  do  Sul,"  a  diamond  now  possessed  by  an 


SEEN  FROM  A  TRAIN  IN  MINAS  GERAES. 

Oriental  potentate,  the  Rajah  of  Baroda,  was  picked  up  in  the 
western  part  of  Minas  Geraes  by  a  negro  woman  slave,  wh< 
gave  it  to  her  master  as  the  price  of  her  freedom.     It  aft 
ward  sold  for  $15,000,000  and  still  ranks  among  the  biggest 
diamonds  in  existence.    Men  have  laid  down  their  lives  in  the 
cause  of  liberty,  but  this  is,  undoubtedly,  the  highest  price 
ever  paid  in  money  value  by  an  individual  for  freedom. 


Si6  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

One  of  the  greatest  mining  swindles  ever  perpetrated  in 
the  United  States  was  based  on  a  mythical  diamond  mine  in 
Brazil.  Through  false  representations  the  promoters  of  this 
swindle  interested  a  prominent  Chicago  man,  the  publisher  of 
the  largest  daily  and  weekly  paper  printed  in  a  foreign  lan- 
guage in  this  city,  and  he  was  made  president  of  the  corpora- 
tion. Because  of  this  man's  connection  with  the  enterprise, 
hundreds  of  his  friends  and  countrymen  invested  in  it,  and  after 
the  usual  wait  for  returns  on  their  investment,  the  bubble  burst 
and  the  swindlers  fled,  leaving  the  honorable  man  they  had 
used  as  a  tool  to  face  the  swindled  investors,  and  he  felt  the 
disgrace  so  keenly  that  it  ultimately  resulted  in  his  death. 

While  in  Brazil  I  inadvertently  ran  across  one  of  the  men 
who  had  benefited  by  the  promotion  of  this  fake  company, 
and  learned  that  the  company  had  never  owned  a  foot  of 
ground  in  Brazil,  that  the  pictures  of  its  alleged  diamond 
mines  and  other  property  were  picked  up  wherever  they 
could  find  them,  and  that  all  its  literature  was  faked  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  investors  in  a  project  that  existed  only  on 
paper. 

To  the  north  of  Minas  Geraes,  and  bordering  on  the 
Atlantic  coast,  is  the  State  of  Bahia,  which  has  an  area  of 
about  200,000  square  miles.  It  is  rich  in  mineral  resources, 
and  new  discoveries  are  constantly  being  made  as  the  exten- 
sion of  railroads  through  the  interior  leads  to  the  opening  up 
of  hitherto  unexplored  regions. 

The  State  is  rich  in  vegetation  and  the  agricultural  indus- 
tries are  in  a  flourishing  condition ;  in  fact,  the  ease  with 
which  a  crop  can  be  raised  in  this  State  gives  rise  to  a  condi- 
tion one  might  call  laziness  (maybe  the  people  are  afflicted 
with  the  hookworm),  for  about  all  that  is  necessary  to  do  is 
to  put  the  seed  in  the  ground  and  harvest  the  crop  when  it 
is  ripe.  Tobacco,  coffee,  cotton  and  rubber  thrive  in  this  "para- 
dise for  tired  people."  There  are  big  sugar  plantations,  and 
cacao  production  reaches  thousands  of  tons  each  year. 

Bahia,  the  capital  of  the  State,  is  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
about  eight  hundred  miles  north  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  It  is  the 
third  city  in  point  of  population  in  Brazil,  having  about  280,- 
ooo  inhabitants,  of  whom  60,000  are  white  and  220,000  are 


518  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

negroes.  This  proportion  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  population 
of  the  entire  State.  In  slavery  days,  Bahia  (or  San  Salvador 
as  it  was  then  called)  was  one  of  the  chief  distributing  points 
of  the  Portuguese  slave  traffic,  and  now,  with  the  preponder- 
ance in  negro  population,  little  distinction  is  made  between  the 
races.  In  other  words,  this  is  one  community  where  the  black 
man  is  considered  as  good  as  a  white  man,  and  the  races  mix 
freely  in  social  and  business  relations. 

One  instance  will  suffice  to  explain  the  conditions.  At  a 
reception  given  by  one  of  the  State  officials  I  noticed  a  young 
woman  who  was  unmistakably  of  negro  descent.  She  appeared 
to  be  "the  belle  of  the  ball,"  and  I  made  inquiry  regarding  her 
and  discovered  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  State  official,  having 
but  recently  returned  from  France,  where  she  had  been  study- 
ing art. 

Although  only  ten  degrees  south  of  the  equator,  Bahia  has 
a  balmy,  beautiful  climate.  Many  of  the  ignorant  blacks  go 
half  naked  all  through  the  year.  They  are  decidedly  super- 
stitious, and  the  "voodoo"  doctor  is  a  man  of  might  in  their 
estimation.  They  have  great  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  real  snake 
poison  for  certain  ailments.  They,  of  course,  use  it  in  greatly 
diluted  form.  In  tests  made  with  it  in  full  strength  it  has 
been  known  to  kill  a  rabbit  in  five  seconds. 

Northeast  of  Bahia  lies  the  little  State  of  Sergipe,  which  is 
the  Rhode  Island  of  Brazil.  Although  it  covers  only  15,000 
square  miles,  it  is  very  productive  and  supports  a  population 
of  450,000  inhabitants.  The  land  lying  along  the  coast  is  low 
and  marshy,  while  that  of  the  interior  is  elevated,  drained  by 
numerous  small  streams,  and  has  a  fine  soil. 

Aracaju,  the  capital,  is  a  city  of  25,000  inhabitants,  and 
is  situated  on  the  coast  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cotinguiba  River. 
It  is  a  typical  tropical  city,  with  the  exception  that  the  streets 
are  broad  and  well  paved.  The  principal  towns  of  the  interior 
are  situated  in  the  districts  where  the  cotton  and  sugar 
industries  flourish.  The  cotton  mills  are  a  big  feature  in  the 
industrial  life  of  this  State. 

Just  north  of  Sergipe  is  the  little  State  of  Alagoas,  which, 
is  about  the  size  of  Ireland.  The  productivity  of  its  soil  is 


BRAZIL 


phenomenal,  everything  that  belongs  to  a  tropical  land  being 
grown  with  trifling  cultivation. 

Alagoas  is  noted  for  a  wonderful  waterfall,  known  as  the 
Cachoeira  de  Paulo  Affonso,  which  is  superior  in  height  and 
volume  to  our  own  Niagara.  I  viewed  it  with  pleasure,  but 
missed  the  persistent  hackmen  who  make  life  a  burden  for 
the  sightseer  at  Niagara,  and  the  spoony  "honeymooners"  one 
encounters  at  every  turn  there. 

One  does  not  notice  much  change  in  manners,  customs  or 
industries  in  passing  from  Alagoas  to  the  State  of  Pernam- 
buco,  which  is  about  the  size  of  the  State  of  New  York,  no 
matter  how  small  it  looks  on  the  map.  If  one  hasn't  been 
warm  before,  one  is  here. 

Pernambuco,  the  farthest  city  eastward  in  South  America, 
is  the  capital  of  the  State.  It  is  often  called  Recife,  a  name 
derived  from  the  narrow  reef  (recife  in  Portuguese  means 
"reef")  that  lines  the  coast  for  a  great  many  miles.  Steamers 


SNAPSHOT  OF  A  WAYSIDE  SCENE. 


BRAZIL  521 

that  draw  more  than  twenty  feet  of  water  do  not  attempt  to 
enter  the  harbor  except  at  high  tide,  and  many  of  the  larger 
boats  do  not  enter,  unless  they  are  to  receive  or  discharge  a 
large  cargo. 

The  town  is  divided  into  three  sections  separated  by  lagoons, 
across  which  are  substantial  bridges,  and  the  population,  esti- 
mated at  200,000,  is  principally  negroes,  though  I  made  no 
attempt  to  count  noses  to  ascertain  the  exact  proportions. 

Hotel  accommodations  in  Pernambuco  are  good — if  you  do 
not  expect  too  much.  If  you  have  just  -ome  from  home  and  are 
accustomed  to  scrupulous  cleanliness,  excellent  service  and 
fine  cooking,  they  will  appear  meager  and  dirty.  But  if  you 
are  on  a  long  trip  through  the  different  countries  of  South 
America,  where  you  encounter  every  condition  from  the  most 
luxurious  comforts  to  sleeping  on  the  ground  in  the  heart  of  a 
tropical  swamp,  the  hotels  of  Pernambuco  will  not  seem  so  bad. 
If  you  are  very  hungry,  you  may  act  as  if  you  enjoy  the  food, 
and  if  you  sprinkle  insect  powder  between  the  sheets  of  your 
bed  the  chances  are  that  you  will  also  sleep. 

From  Pernambuco  the  large  steamers  sail  directly  to  Para, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon,  and  being  satisfied  with  my  in- 
vestigations of  the  East  Coast,  I  took  boat  for  that  city,  eager 
to  see  the  "King  of  Rivers,"  and  the  great  valley  that  may 
justly  be  called  the  "Mother,  of  Rubber." 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

PARA  AND  THE  AMAZON  BASIN. 

OF  ALL  the  Brazilian  States,  Para  has  the  longest  stretch 
of  seacoast,  nearly  seven  hundred  miles.  We  passed  a 
number  of  lighthouses  as  we  voyaged  toward  the  capital. 
Evidently  the  pilots  need  protection  in  these  waters,  especially 
on  account  of  the  great  river-bars  and  shifting  islands  of  sand 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon.  It  is  a  region  of 
tremendous  tides  and  currents. 

In  speaking  of  the  city  of  Para,  I  am  tempted  to  call  it 
"Para  the  Beautiful."  In  Brazil  they  have  a  saying  which 
runs,  "Who  goes  to  Para  stays  there."  This  will  express  to 
the  reader  more,  perhaps,  than  if  I  attempted  a  long  descrip- 
tion of  the  place.  In  short,  it  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
delightful  residence  places  in  northern  Brazil.  Its  public  build- 
ings and  homes  are  unusually  attractive, 
and  it  seems  much  like  a  city  built  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  tropic  garden.  Para 
lies  back  of  a  beautiful  and  spacious 
bay,  on  the  waters  of  which  come  and 
go  sea  and  river  craft  of  all  sorts. 
Wealth  has  poured  into  Para  in  recent 
years,  and  its  results  are  very  apparent. 
It  has  a  population  of  over  100,000.  Its 
boulevards  and  parks  are  uncommonly 
fine,  and  they  have  an  opera  house  here, 
the  Theatre  da  Paz,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  sumptuous  in  South  America. 
Excellent  European  companies  are  en- 
gaged by  the  Government  every  season, 
to  give  a  series  of  operas  in  this  theater. 
You  see,  they  are  very  "up  to  date." 


CHARLIE,  MY  FAITH- 
FUL SERVANT. 


522 


BRAZIL 


The  State  of  Para  is  the  third  largest  in  Brazil.  It  is  an 
enormous  and  rich  piece  of  country.  Some  of  the  Para  statis- 
ticians have  estimated  that  their  State  would  give  room  to, 
and  support,  half  the  population  of  Europe.  I  will  not  dispute 
their  concl  u  s  i  o  n  s, 
but  the  question  is: 
Would  they  want  half 
the  population  of  Eu- 
rope, if  they  could 
get  it?  They  have 
room  and  freedom 
and  opportunity  now, 
and  these  always 
grow  less  as  human- 
ity crowds  together. 

Of  one  thing  they 
can  truthfully  boast 
in  Para ;  it  is  the 
greatest  rubber  port 
in  the  world.  Rubber 
alone  contributes  to 
the  State  and  munici- 
palities over  twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  their 
incomes.  The  annual 
crop  of  rubber  gath- 
ered in  this  State 
amounts  to  about  24,- 
000,000  pounds,  val- 
ued at  from  $20,000,- 
ooo  to  $25,000,000, 
according  to  the  price 
prevailing  here.  How- 
ever, they  have  be- 
sides rubber  other 
rich  resources  in  the 

State  of  Para.  Their  output  of  cacao  is  a  big  one,  over 
6,000,000  pounds  annually.  Estimate  it  in  cups  of  chocolate 
if  you  like ;  the  result  may  quench  your  thirst. 


FASTENING  RUBBER  "HAMS"  TOGETHER 
FOR  SHIPMENT. 


524  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

The  forest  wealth  of  the  State  of  Para  is  enormous,  anti 
they  have  Brazil  nuts  in  quantities  unlimited.  Then  there  are 
sugar,  gold,  dyewoods,  precious  stones,  marble,  slate,  gums, 
tobacco,  cattle,  fisheries,  hardwoods  and  other  valuable  things. 
It  is  a  fine  country  to  settle  in,  you  see.  Yes,  and  the  climate 
is  excellent;  it  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  country  swept  by  the 
breath  of  the  sea,  though  it  is  sometimes  really  hot,  and  there  is 
a  great  deal  of  rain.  But  the  great  thing  is  rubber.  In  Para, 
life  is  measured  in  terms  of  rubber ;  the  docks  are  lined  with 
warehouses  for  its  handling,  and  the  water-front  is  so  crowded 
with  it  one  smells  it  before  he  lands  at  the  dock.  Being  so  im- 
portant a  thing,  we  will  use  a  little  space  in  talking  about  it. 

Human  nature  and  this  important  industry  cropped  out  in  a 
recently-quoted  conversation.  Said  one  American  to  another : 

"Did  you  hear  about  Muckraker's  good  luck?" 

"No,"  replied  the  other.  "Have  things  been  coming  his 
way  ?" 

"They  certainly  have.  He  recently  landed  a  big  series  of 
articles  with  a  magazine,  in  which  he  denounced  the  automo- 
bile business  and  showed  from  every  possible  point  of  view 
that  automobiles  are  bad  things  and  ought  to  be  abolished." 

"That  was  fine.    What  did  he  do  with  the  money?" 

"Bought  an  automobile." 

Probably  he  never  would  have  bought  one  had  it  not  been 
for  rubber  tires.  In  fact,  when  one  considers  the  matter,  it 
seems  possible  that  we  would  still  be  in  the  "horse  and  buggy 
age"  were  it  not  for  the  strange  and  useful  substance  we  call 
rubber.  It  is  an  odd,  half-romantic  story,  that  of  rubber. 
The  records  say  that  early  travelers,  Columbus  himself  being 
one  of  them,  noticed  that  the  Indians  of  South  America  (which 
then  was  supposed  to  be  a  part  of  the  East  Indies)  played  ball 
with  an  odd  elastic  substance  grown  in  the  tropical  forests, 
and  prepared  for  use  by  a  process  known  only  to  the  natives. 
The  red  man  also  fashioned  a  crude  sort  of  shoes  from  this 
substance,  and  bottles  which  could  be  squeezed  together  to 
eject  liquid  contents.  The  American  aborigines,  you  see, 
knew  considerable  about  rubber  at  a  date  when  the  balance 
of  mankind  were  entirely  ignorant  of  it. 

The  Spaniards  called  the  stuff  goma  elastica — that  is,  elas- 


BRAZIL 


525 


tic  gum,  and  at  first  it  was  regarded  only  with  curiosity.  How- 
ever, it  was  presently  imported  to  Europe  and  studied  chemi- 
cally, exciting  great  interest  in  the  laboratories.  This  seems 
almost  humorous,  considering  how  common  a  thing  rubber 
is  today,  but,  remember,  it  was  "funny  stuff"  and  unknown  up 
to  that  time. 

However,  the  chemists  presently  found  a  way  to  shape 
the  substance  into  tubes,  which  being  elastic  and  yielding, 
were  for  certain  uses,  a  great  improvement  on  rigid  pipes 
made  of  metal.  Then,  in  1770,  an  English  chemist  named 
Priestley  discovered  that  the  gum  was  an  excellent  thing  for 
erasing  the  marks  of  the  lead  pencil.  It  rubbed  out  the  marks, 
hence  it  was  a  "rubber,"  and  having  been  discovered  in  what 
had  been  supposed  to  be  India,  it  became  known  as  "India 
rubber,"  and  there  you  have  the  origin  of  its  name. 

After  that  it  became  more  widely  known,  as  experiments 
showed  its  commercial  value,  and  in  1823  a  man  named  Mack- 
intosh discovered  a  method  of  waterproofing  garments  with 
the  substance;  then  in  1839  Nelson  Goodyear,  in  the  United 
States,  hit  upon  a  method  of  combining  rubber  with  sulphur. 


A  RUBBER-GATHERING   CAMP   IN    INTERIOR   BRAZIL. 


526  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

which  became  known  as  vulcanization.  After  that  this  gummy 
product  of  the  tropics  entered  more  and  more  into  commerce, 
until  today  it  compares  favorably  with  iron,  copper  and  glass, 
in  the  diversity  of  its  uses. 

In  fact,  with  the  great  numbers  of  vehicles  demanded  by 
modern  life,  existence  would  be  well-nigh  intolerable  without 
this  noise-deadening  substance;  besides,  without  it  as  insula- 
tion an  entirely  new  method  of  telegraphing  and  telephoning 
would  have  to  be  invented.  And  our  modern  fire-fighting 
service,  what  would  that  be  without  rubber  hose?  One  can 
hardly  conceive  how  crippled  human  processes  would  be  had 
we  no  such  thing  as  the  flexible  pipe.  Indeed,  a  whole  chap- 
ter might  be  written  on  the  uses  of  rubber  alone,  for  it  enters 
into  the  manufacture  of  scores  of  useful  things. 

But  what  is  this  curious  substance?  Why,  simply  ten 
atoms  of  carbon  to  sixteen  atoms  of  hydrogen  fused  into  a 
compound.  It  looks  so  easy  that  thousands  of  chemists  have 
dreamed  of  producing  artificial  rubber,  and  thereby  ''making 
a  mint  of  money."  But  the  little  trick  of  infusing  life  and 
elasticity  into  the  artificial  compound  has  not  yet  been  found. 
You  see,  there  is  an  immense  difference  between  organic  chem- 
istry and  artificial  chemistry,  the  difference  between  God,  or 
Nature,  mixing  the  atoms,  and  man  doing  it.  Just  exactly 
what  makes  that  difference  is  one  of  the  mysteries  that  the 
mind  of  man  has  not  yet  solved,  and  probably  it  is  well  for  us 
that  we  have  not,  and  very  likely  never  will. 

Again,  leaving  the  chemical  definition  aside,  what  is  rub- 
ber? Simply  the  "butter"  from  the  cream  of  the  milk  taken 
from  a  certain  variety  of  tree  or  shrub.  Sounds  like  dairy 
talk,  doesn't  it?  Well,  the  simile  is  not  so  very  far-fetched, 
since  there  is  milk  and  then  cream,  and  the  coagulation  of  the 
cream  into  rubber  is  actually  being  now  accomplished  in 
some  regions  by  a  separator  apparatus  similar  to  that  used 
in  dairies. 

The  scientific  name  for  this  "milk"  is  latex,  and  it  is  not 
the  same  as  the  sap  of  the  tree,  for  it  runs  in  different  chan- 
nels and  performs  a  different  function.  As  this  latex  flows 
from  the  cut  in  the  rubber  tree,  it  has  much  the  appearance 
of  milk,  and  acts  in  the  same  way.  Like  milk,  if  left  to  itself, 


BRAZIL 


527 


it  separates  into  a  lower  fluid  with  a  creamy  surface  mass, 
which,  when  coagulated,  is  India  rubber.  So  if  you  are  anx- 
ious to  enter  the  dairy  busi- 
ness, go  to  Brazil,  buy  a  grove, 
in  the  State  of  Para  or  on  the 
upper  Amazon,  and  "milk  the 
trees." 

Rubber  is  essentially  and  al- 
ways rubber,  no  matter  from 
what  quarter  of  the  world  it 
comes.  The  trees  that  yield 
it  are  peculiarly  tropical,  and, 
though  there  are  rubber-pro- 
ducing plants  outside  of  tropi- 
cal forests,  the  great  mass  of 
the  product  is  gathered  from 
a  comparatively  narrow  belt 
on  both  sides  of  the  equator. 
There  are  a  great  many 
sorts  of  rubber-bearing  trees 
and  plants,  but  the  rubber  tree 
par  excellence  is  the  hevea 
species,  which  is  indigenous  to 
the  Amazon  River  basin  and 
the  vast  watershed  drained  by 
the  Amazon's  tributaries.  The 
hevea  specimen  is  a  large  tree, 
often  as  much  as  twelve  feet 
in  circumference,  which  from 
its  fourth  year  begins  to  yield 
milk,  and  after  that  may  be 
systematically  tapped  for 
twenty  years  or  longer.  On 
account  of  the  rich  soil,  the 
tropic  warmth  and  abundant 
moisture,  the  forests  of  this 
species  of  tree  are  far  larger 
and  more  general  in  the  Ama- 
zon Basin  than  are  rubber- 


A  RUBBER-BEARING  TREE,   SHOWING 
THE  SCARS  OF  PAST  TAPPING. 


528  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

bearing  trees  of  any  sort  elsewhere  in  the  world.  Hence 
nearly  one-half  of  all  the  rubber  used  by  mankind  comes  from 
the  Amazon  region,  and  Para  is  its  greatest  port  of  shipment. 
Speaking  of  the  Amazon  brings  me  to  consideration  of  this 
greatest  of  rivers.  When  one  faces  the  task  of  trying  to  de- 
scribe the  Amazon  River,  one  involuntarily  feels  the  need  of  a 
new  form  of  human  expression,  some  sort  of  symbols  that  are 
bigger  and  stronger  and  more  vivid  than  mortal  words.  When 


A  RUBBER  PORT  ON  THE  AMAZON. 

an  individual  contemplates  the  Amazon  his  feeling  is  much  as 
it  is  with  almost  every  writer  who  stands  beside  the  Grand  Can- 
yon of  the  Colorado  and  looks  down  into  that  indescribable 
gorge ;  it  simply  overwhelms  the  mind's  power  of  description. 
One  has  /to  conceive  of  any  specified  thing  by  examples  and 
comparisons,  and  there  is  no  stream  of  water  anywhere  with 
which  effectively  to  compare  the  Amazon.  Why  not  use  our 
Mississippi  River  in  the  United  States  for  comparison?  Well, 


BRAZIL 


529 


there  are  at  least  a  dozen  rivers  fairly  comparable  with  the  Mis- 
sissippi flowing  into  the  Amazon — rivers  .each  more  than  a 
thousand  miles  in  length  and  from  one  to  three  miles  wide, 
while  the  Amazon  itself  is  3,700  miles  in  length,  and  through- 
out its  main  body  in  times  of  flood  is  from  thirty  to  one  hun- 
dred miles  in  width  and  has  a  mouth  nearly  two  hundred 
miles  wide.  In  this  mouth  lies  the  island  of  Marajo,  the 


RUBBER  GATHERER'S  HOME  ON  THE  UPPER  AMAZON  RIVER. 
34 


530 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


A  BRAZILIAN  BOA  CONSTRICTOR. 


size  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  vast  flood  pour- 
ing out  into  the  sea  colors  the  Atlantic  Ocean  for  two  hun- 
dred miles.  You  ob- 
serve, the  Amazon 
River  is  one  of  the 
earth's  very  biggest 
things;  in  fact,  like 
the  ocean,  it  is  so  big 
one  cannot  really 
see  it. 

There  is  a  reason 
for  the  bigness  of 
this  matchless 
stream,  and  the  rea- 
son is  that  it  drains 

a  basin  that  is  almost  inconceivable  in  extent.  Beginning  as 
an  impetuous  mountain  stream,  away  up  in  the  Andes  Moun- 
tains, sixteen  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  and  within  less 
than  one  hundred  miles  of  Lima,  Peru,  on  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
it  flows  eastward  clear  across  the  South  American  continent, 
drawing  into  its  majestically  moving  flood  literally  hundreds 
of  rivers  and  thousands  of  smaller  affluents.  Like  most  big 
things,  it  is  normally  placid,  save  where  its  measureless  volume 
bores  into  the  liquid  flank  of  the  Atlantic ;  naturally  at  that 
point  there  is  thunder  and  widespread  watery  turmoil  from 
the  shock  and  heave  of  the  meeting  of  two  such  gigantic  forces. 
The  first  descent  of  the  Amazon  was  made  by  the  Spanish 
explorer  Orellana,  in  1541.  The  journey  was  a  wild  and 
romantic  one.  Among  many  fights  and  adventures,  his  party 
had  a  battle  with  the  Tapuya  tribe  of  Indians.  The  women  of 
this  tribe  always  help  to  do  the  fighting,  and  from  this  fact  the 
river  took  its  fanciful  name. 

But  the  bigness  of  the  country  that  it  drains !  The  Brazil- 
ian State  of  Amazonas  alone,  which  lies  within  the  basin,  cov- 
ers an  area  of  800,000  square  miles,  equal  in  size  to  all  of  the 
United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Then  the  great 
rivers  that  flow  into  it !  The  Rio  Negro  from  Venezuela,  the 
Madeira  from  Bolivia,  the  Jurua,  Purus,  and  Javary  from 
Peru,  the  Iga  and  Japura  from  Colombia,  the  Napo  from 


532 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Ecuador,  and  dozens  of  others.  Taking  the  Amazon  itself, 
together  with  this  vast  radiation  of  navigable  tributaries,  you 
have  unquestionably  tne  world's  greatest  system  of  natural 
internal  highways. 

An  attempted  detailed  description  of  so  immense  a  coun- 
try as  the  Amazon  Basin  would  simply  result  in  confusion  to 
the  mind.  It  is  somewhat  like  trying  to  get  a  mental  grip  on 
the  thing  astronomers  call  "space,"  no  mind  was  ever  yet  big 
enough  really  to  grasp  "all  out  doors,"  you  know.  Suffice  it 
to  say,  the  entire  basin  of  the  Amazon  covers  an  area  of  seven 
million  square  kilometers.  A  kilometer  is  equal  to  about  two- 
thirds  of  an  American  mile.  Figure  it  out  yourself,  please. 
The  writer  of  a  book  should  not  have  to  do  all  the  work, 
should  he?  Of  course,  portions  of  this  basin  extend  into  Peru, 
Ecuador  and  Bolivia,  but  nevertheless  the  drainage  is  into  the 


SOME  AMAZON  VALLEY  PARROTS. 


BRAZIL  533 

Amazon,  and  the  size  and  extent  of  that  "rivulet"  is  what  we 
are  considering. 

Reluctantly  leaving  the  pleasant  city  of  Para,  we  sailed  one 
morning  for  Manaos,  the  capital  of  Amazonas  State,  nearly 
one  thousand  miles  up  the  Amazon  River.  All  day  our  steamer 
was  among  the  channels  and  green  islands  of  the  mighty  river's 
mouth.  In  fact,  we  did  not  find  ourselves  on  the  main  stream 
until  the  following  morning.  After  that  the  broad  liquid  way 
stretched  before  us,  seemingly  without  limit  or  end.  Some- 
times we  caught  glimpses  of  islands  of  floating  waste,  and  then 
again  long  sweeps  of  water,  much  like  the  open  sea.  Then, 
again,  we  were  sailing  for  hours  along  the  shore,  looking  upon 
its  wild  tangle  of  verdure.  The  water  of  the  Amazon  is  al- 
ways "roily,"  being  laden  with  the  soil-wash  of  an  almost 
incalculably  great  area.  Its  depth  averages  from  seventy-five 
to  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and,  its  width  being  so  great,  it 
is  difficult  sometimes  to  realize  that  one  is  voyaging  up  a  river. 

The  journey  by  steamer  up  the  Amazon  is  strange  and 
impressive.  In  the  main,  it  seems  to  be  about  twenty  miles 
in  width,  but  in  periods  of  flood  it  simply  "covers  the  whole 
country,"  hence  the  reports  of  its  enormous  width,  which  in  a 
sense  are  true.  At  long  distances  there  are  towns  on  the  high 
grounds,  and  splendid  plantations,  but,  for  the  most  part,  the 
shores  are  endless  reaches  of  forest  and  jungle.  Time  was 
when  this  "sea-river"  was  closed  to  other  ships  than  Brazilian 
boats,  but  in  1866  the  river  was  opened  to  the  vessels  and  com- 
merce of  all  nations.  Now  there  are  ships  coming  from  and 
going  to  all  parts  of  Europe  and  America  from  Amazon  ports ; 
there  are  lines  of  great  steamers  on  the  main  stream,  lines  of 
somewhat  smaller  steamers  on  the  big  tributaries,  and  launches 
and  small  craft  of  all  sorts  on  the  affluent  branches.  Every- 
where the  smaller  boats  are  gathering  the  products  of  the 
basin — rubber,  cocoanuts,  hardwoods,  dyewoods,  pelts,  tropical 
fruits  and  other  commodities — and  bringing  them  down  to 
Manaos  and  Para  and  other  ports.  It  is  estimated  that  over 
3,000,000  tons  of  products  come  down  the  Amazon  every  sea- 
son, and  yet  the  real  productiveness  of  the  region  has  scarcely 
been  touched. 

Just  before  we  reached  the  State  capital  of  Amazonas,  our 


534  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

steamer  turned  from  the  Amazon  into  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Negro  (the  Negro  River).  This  river  is  of  a  rich,  dark  choco- 
late color,  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  is  from  three  to 
five  miles  in  width.  It  heads  far  northward  in  Colombia. 
Manaos,  the  capital,  lies  seven  miles  up  this  river  from  the 
Amazon.  Manaos  is  a  big,  beautiful  town,  with  fine  architec- 
ture and  every  modern  improvement.  Lying  near  the  center 
of  the  Amazon  Basin,  its  commerce  is  large  and  its  influence 
great.  As  in  Para,  the  warehouses  and  floating  docks  along 
the  river-front  are  so  given  over  to  the  handling  of  rubber  that 
the  very  air  is  laden  with  its  odor.  But  for  the  time  being  I 
was  looking  for  rubber  in  its  native  state  and  not  for  the  com- 
mercial handling  of  it. 

Brazilian  territory  known  to  produce  rubber  covers  1,000,- 
ooo  square  miles,  and  up  the  Rio  Negro,  or  upon  almost  any 
of  the  rivers,  one  soon  comes  to  rubber  camps  and  gatherers 

in  the  forests.  The  ex- 
istence of  these  peo- 
ple is  strange,  primi- 
t  i  v  e,  remote.  The 
rubber  gatherers  are 
largely  tame  Indians, 
negroes  and  half- 
breeds. 

I  found  that  a  sys- 
tematic division  of 
labor  is  made  on  all 
the  great  rubber  es- 
tates, each  collector 
being  given  his  hut 
and  utensils  and  a 
specified  territory  to 
work,  the  trees  being 
connected  by  paths  in 
a  loop  that  takes  the 
collector  back  to  his 
starting  point  when 
his  day's  tapping  is 
finished. 

A  RUBBER  TREE  AND  GATHERER.     NOTE 
THE  CUPS  ATTACHED  FOR  CATCH- 
ING THE  "MILK/" 


BRAZIL 


535 


I  spent  a  day  with  one  of  these  tappers.  They  are  called 
seringueiros  or  caucheros,  according  to  the  region  and  lan- 
guage employed.  Very  early  in  the  morning  we  took  the  trail 
through  the  forest;  about  us  was  a  tangle  of  tropic  growth, 
above  us  almost  a  solid  roof  of  verdure;  monkeys  swung 
through  the  branches,  gayly  colored  birds  flew  to  and  fro,  the 
air  was  damp  and  warm.  Each  rubber  tree  that  we  came  to 
the  tapper  gashed  with  a  sort  of  little  hatchet,  fastening  a  tin 
cup  under  each  gash.  When  nearly  a  hundred  trees  had  been 
tapped,  we  returned,  hot  and  tired,  to  his  hut.  Near  evening 
we  made  the  rounds  of  the  rubber  trees  again,  gathering  the 
milk  from  the  cups  in  a  large  vessel.  The  tapper  then  built  a 


TAPPING  A  RUBBER  TREE. 


536 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


fire,  sprinkling  it  with  palmetto  nuts,  that  gave  off  a  dense 
white  smoke  with  creosote  properties. 

On  either  side  of  the  fire  were  two  forked  poles,  support- 
ing a  horizontal  pole  over  the  blaze.  With  his  right  hand  the 
tapper  slapped  the  rubber  milk  on  the  pole  by  means  of  a 
wooden  paddle,  while  with  the  left  hand  he  kept  turning  the 
pole  round  and  round  in  the  smoke.  Larger  and  larger  grew 
the  ball,  as  he  added  fresh  milk  to  that  already  coagulated,  and 
in  this  primitive  manner  a  kind  of  "ham"  of  rubber  was 
formed,  and  was  ready  to  be  shipped  by  trail  and  canoe  to  the 
nearest  river  port. 

Thousands,  yes,  tens  of  thousands,  of  these  lonely  men,  in 


A  RUBBER  GATHERER  SMOKING  THE  PRODUCT  INTO  A 
RUBBER    HAM. 


BRAZIL  537 

the  forests  of  Brazil,  are  daily  going  through  the  routine  of 
labor  I  have  described,  for  most  of  the  rubber  used  by  man- 
kind is  originally  gathered  in  this  simple,  primitive  manner. 
In  the  State  of  Amazonas  alone  150,000  men  are  engaged  in 
the  business  of  gathering  and  marketing  these  rubber  "smoked 
hams"  of  the  forest. 

From  statistics  given  by  the  Manaos  Congress  in  1910  I 
gather  that  the  world's  total  production  of  rubber  amounted 
in  that  year  to  about  146,000,000  pounds ;  of  this  some  78,000,- 
ooo  pounds  came  from  South  America,  chiefly  from  the  Ama- 
zon Basin.  Of  this  latter  quantity  29,200,000  pounds  came  to 
the  United  States.  You  see  we  are  largely  riding  on  rubber 
these  days,  so  it  takes  a  great  deal  of  it.  All  rubber  is  admitted 
into  the  United  States  free  of  duty,  as  is  coffee  also,  so  ninety- 
nine  per  cent  of  all  the  imports  into  the  United  States  from 
Brazil  are  admitted  free. 

As  for  the  Amazon  Basin,  some  time  it  will  support  an 
enormous  section  of  the  human  race.  There  are  vast  areas 
suitable  for  cattle  raising,  great  tillable  uplands,  immense  for- 
ests of  valuable  timber,  priceless  deposits  of  minerals.  It  is 
simply  so  big  that  mankind  has  not  yet  made  much  of  an  im- 
pression on  it,  and  so  wonderful  no  writer  yet  has  fully 
described  it. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
THE  MADEIRA  AND  MAMOR£  RAILWAY. 

I  LEFT  picturesque  Manaos  with  some  regret,  for  a  long 
journey  lay  before  me.  I  was  bound  for  Porto  Velho,  far 
up  the  Madeira  River,  and  to  take  a  look  at  the  wonderful 
railroad  that  American  engineers  have  built  to  overcome  the 
gigantic  obstruction  set  in  the  path  of  navigation  by  the  rapids 
and  falls  of  the  Madeira  and  Mamore  Rivers.  Before  leaving 
Manaos,  one  has  to  contribute  a  head  tax  to  the  funds  of  the 
State.  I  had  to  pay  nine  dollars  tax  for  each  member  of  my 
party ;  then  with  the  steamship  company,  I  had  to  deposit  fifty 
dollars  for  myself  and  each  of  my  men,  to  be  turned  over  to 
the  hospital  board  in  Barbados  for  medical  attention  or 
funeral  expenses  in  case  we  were  sent  to  that  island  with  the 
yellow  fever.  Of  course,  the  money  was  ultimately  returned 
to  me,  as  we  escaped  the  plague.  This  formality  having  been 
complied  with,  we  were  permitted  to  sail  for  the  wonderland 
of  the  upper  Madeira. 

You  see,  an  enterprise  of  first-class  importance  has  been 
going  on  through  several  years  far  out  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  South  American  wilds.  The  world  has  known  little  about 
it,  but  it  has  been  of  immense  importance  to  the  world ;  it  has 
meant  the  opening  of  a  gateway  to  an  extremely  large  area 
of  rich  and  little  known  country,  the  making  of  a  clear  track 
for  commerce  between  vast  districts  of  Bolivia,  Peru,  and 
Brazil,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  River  and,  beyond  that, 
the  civilized  world. 

Brazil,  and  especially  the  Amazon  Basin,  is  a  region  of 
''appalling  distances."  In  traveling  there  one  at  times  grows 
impatient,  but  the  saving  thing  is  that  usually  one  grows  lazy. 
To  be  lazy  on  board  ship  is  not  only  excusable,  it  is  fashion- 
able. By  times,  too,  in  these  long  stretches  one  mentally 
questions  if  "the  game  is  worth  the  candle,"  if  the  object  is 

538 


BRAZIL 


539 


worth  the  time  and  trouble?     Of  course,  one  is  after  some- 
thing; the  question  is,  does  he  get  it? 

"Hans,"  said  Gottlieb,  "did  you  efer  puy  a  golt  brick?" 
"Nein,  nein,"  replied  Hans.     "I  never  puyed  a  golt  brick, 
but  once  I  puyed  vat  I  thought  vas  one !" 

Sometimes  during  my  journeys  in  South  America  it  turned 
out  like  that ;  the  marvel  I  was  seeking  proved  not  to  be  gold, 
but  just  a  plain  "brick,"  but  nearly  always  the  object  sought 
proved  to  be  worth  the  price. 


ONE  OF  THE  RAPIDS  IN  THE  MADEIRA  RIVER,  BRAZIL. 

It  was  so  in  the  long  journey  up  the  Madeira.  For  one 
thing,  the  traveler  gets  a  very  large  and  long-abiding  com- 
prehension of  what  the  word  "forest"  means.  One  reaches 
Porto  Velho  with  an  expanded  conception  of  eternity,  for  it 
must  have  taken  a  very,  very  long  time  indeed  for  God  to 
have  made  so  much  timber!  My  impression  was  that  on  the 
Madeira  River  alone  there  was  timber  enough  for  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  and  I  saw,  naturally,  but  a  "strip"  of  the 
whole. 


540  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Landing  finally  at  Porto  Velho,  which  is  connected  with 
Manaos  by  wireless,  I  found  that  the  railroad  was  well  along 
toward  completion.  The  achievement,  being  so  far  from  civili- 
zation, is  stupendous.  Only  great  quantities  of  cash  and 
supreme  "nerve"  could  have  accomplished  it. 

Mankind  must  have  tools  with  which  to  do  its  work,  and 
two  of  its  very  greatest  tools  are  steel  and  water;  in  other 
words,  railroads,  rivers  and  seas. 

A  man  who  has  a  sack  of  gold,  but  who  is  in  the  heart  of 
a  trackless  forest,  hundreds  of  miles  from  civilization,  may 
be  regarded  as  a  lucky  individual,  but,  strictly  speaking,  he 
cannot  be  accounted  rich,  for  his  gold  will  buy  nothing  there. 
His  gold  is  no  more  than  so  many  pebbles,  until  he  transports 
it  to  a  market  where  it  can  be  exchanged  for  the  world's  com- 
modities or  placed  to  his  credit  in  a  bank. 

This,  as  I  have  frequently  mentioned,  shows  the  impor- 
tance of  adequate  transportation,  which  has  been  the  one 
thing  lacking  in  the  interior  of  Brazil,  and  the  portions  of 
Bolivia  and  Peru  about  the  Amazon  headwaters. 

Here  is  a  domain  half  as  large  as  the  United  States,  amaz- 
ingly rich  in  mineral  and  agricultural  possibilities,  yet  huge 
areas  of  it  have  literally  no  commercial  value  at  the  present 
time,  because  there  is  no  cheap  way  of  getting  the  products  to 
a  market  where  they  will  be  of  value. 

All  of  the  navigable  branches  of  the  Amazon,  through 
boat  service,  now  pour  into  the  channels  of  commerce  a  cer- 
tain share  of  the  products  of  the  interior,  but  the  crying  need 
is  railroads  to  bring  the  products  to  the  great  rivers. 

The  section  of  South  America  which  is  drained  by  the 
Madeira  River  and  its  tributaries  has  not  shared  in  the  pros- 
perity, enjoyed  in  continually  growing  volume  by  the  other 
portions  of  the  great  basin,  because  of  the  difficulty  in  trans- 
porting the  products  of  the  region  down  the  Madeira  River 
rapids.  The  area  drained  by  the  Madeira  and  its  principal 
tributary,  the  Mamore,  is  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  products  of  this  terri- 
tory must  either  go  down  the  Madeira  to  the  Amazon,  or  be 
carried  over  the  Andes  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  coast.  To 
cross  the  rocky  ramparts  of  the  Andes  with  steel  rails,  bridges 


BRAZIL 


54i 


PULLING  BOAT  AROUND  THE  FALLS  OF  THE  MADEIRA  RIVER. 

and  tunnels  is  not  impossible  to  modern  engineers,  but  it  is  all 
down  hill  and  far  cheaper  to  go  in  the  other  direction. 

The  Madeira  River  is  navigable  for  660  miles  from  its 
junction  with  the  Amazon,  but  beyond  that,  for  a  distance  of 
200  miles,  it  is  a  series  of  rapids  and  falls  of  such  stupendous 
force  that  no  device  of  man  can  be  conceived  of  sufficient 
ingenuity  and  power  to  carry  exports  or  imports  on  the  river 
itself,  to  or  from  a  point  above  the  dangerous  water  where 
navigation  is  again  possible. 

For  a  century  or  more  what  products  have  come  out  of 
the  immense  region  of  the  Upper  Madeira,  and  what  commod- 
ities have  been  taken  into  that  territory,  have  been  subjected 
to  the  expense  of  long  portages  around  the  various  rapids  and 
falls.  Occasionally,  during  high  water,  the  boatmen  would  haz- 
ard "shooting"  some  of  the  rapids,  with  the  result  that  hun- 
dreds of  lives  and  millions  in  property  have  been  lost. 

As  far  back  as  1846  the  importance  of  some  safe  and  cheap 
method  of  passing  these  rapids  and  falls  was  realized  and  dis- 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

cussed,  and  in  1851  a  United  States  naval  officer  reported 
that  the  sole  obstacle  to  continued  sailing  from  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  to  Vinchuta,  in  Bolivia,  was  a  series  of  nineteen  falls 
and  rapids  in  the  Madeira  and  Mamore  Rivers.  In  1869  the 
Governments  of  Brazil  and  Bolivia  engaged  a  famous  engi- 
neer to  outline  the  work  necessary  for  the  construction  of  a 
railroad  around  these  rapids,  the  same  to  be  known  as  the 
Madeira  and  Mamore  Railway. 

In  1871  work  was  ,begun  on  the  project  and  continued 
some  time,  but  the  hardships  and  obstacles  encountered  were 
too  great,  and  it  was  dropped.  In  1878  the  work  was  begun 
again  by  United  States  constructors  and  carried  on  for  a 
year,  with  the  result  that  a  survey  of  320  miles  was  cut 
through  the  dense  forests,  a  train  run  on  completed  tracks 
for  four  miles,  and  right  of  way  established  by  twenty-five 
miles  of  clearing. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  work  stopped  again,  for  it  was 
being  done  in  the  heart  of  a  tropical  forest — a  region  that 
was,  perhaps,  the  most  unhealthful  in  all  South  America.  The 
time  was  not  ripe  for  the  completion  of  the  enterprise,  and  it 


INAUGURAL    PARTY    SEEING    CONSTRUCTION     ON     THE     MADEIRA- 
MAMORE   RAILROAD,    SEPTEMBER   8,    IQII. 


BRAZIL  543 

languished  until  the  United  States  demonstrated  at  Panama 
how  to  combat  the  diseases  of  the  tropics. 

The  history  of  the  last  attempt  to  build  the  railroad,  which 
is  meeting  with  success,  began  in  1906,  when  the  Government 
of  Brazil  entered  into  a  contract  for  its  construction  with 
Civil  Engineer  Joachim  Catramby  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  He  en- 
tered into  an  agreement  with  Percival  Farquhar,  an  Ameri- 
can financier,  and  May  &  Jekyll  were  engaged  in  the  United 
States  to  finish  the  construction  for  the  company,  which  was 
incorporated  in  1907  under  the  laws  of  Maine.  Mr.  Jekyll's 
home  is  in  Ottawa,  111.  While  the  railroad  is  being  built  for 
the  Government  it  has  already  been  leased  for  operation  to 
the  company  that  is  constructing  it,  for  a  period  of  sixty  years, 
from  January  i,  1912. 

The  completed  railway  will  cost  $20,000,000,  which  is 
borne  jointly  by  Brazil  and  Bolivia,  and  is  to  run  from  Porto 
Velho,  on  the  Madeira,  to  a  point  beyond  Villa  Bella,  in 
Bolivia.  Shortly  after  I  was  there  the  third  division  of  this 
important  railroad  was  opened  to  traffic. 

The  road  now  reaches  the  door  of  Bolivia,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Abuna  River,  and  saves  thirty  days'  dangerous  detour 
around  the  treacherous  rapids.  The  traveler  and  his  wares 
may  now  go  comfortably  in  ten  hours,  without  risk,  where 
formerly  a  month  of  untold  hardships  was  considered  a  rea- 
sonable time  to  spend  on  the  trip.  Formerly  the  charges  were 
about  $300  per  ton  down  the  Madeira,  and  $400  per  ton  in 
going  up.  The  main  construction  headquarters  are  at 
Porto  Velho.  From  4,000  to  5,000  men  have  been  employed 
on  the  work ;  of  these  300  to  400  were  Americans.  They  have 
a  big  hospital  here,  an  ice  plant  and  storehouses.  The  com- 
pany drilled  wells  in  order  to  have  good  water  for  the  men,  and 
quinine  was  bought  by  the  ton.  Three  men  were  kept  busy 
from  morning  until  night  making  quinine  pills.  Despite  every 
precaution,  sometimes  from  300  to  400  sick  men  were  in  the 
hospital,  and  ten  doctors  and  a  small  army  of  nurses  were  kept 
"on  the  jump."  The  difficulties  have  been  enormous,  but 
pluck  and  energy  have  triumphed.  I  am  proud  that  this  great 
work  has  been  driven  through  to  success  by  North  Americans. 

When  this  road  is  entirely  completed  and  open  to  traffic, 


544  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


WARD  IN   HOSPITAL  FOR  NATIVE  LABORERS  ON   MADEIRA- MA  MORE 
RAILROAD,    BRAZIL. 

the  eastern  side  of  the  Andes  will  fully  realize  its  long-cher- 
ished dream  of  direct  outlet  to  all  the  ports  of  the  earth. 
Outward  will  go  the  inexhaustible  riches  of  the  country, 
inward  will  go  the  manufactures  of  the  world  and  also  settlers 
who  will  reap  the  benefit  of  this  enterprise,  which  has  cost 
so  much  in  money  and  lives. 

The  average  American  citizen  who  reads  of  this  "land  of 
promise"  must  not  get  the  idea  that  life  there  is  all  sunshine 
and  flowers,  because  I  speak  of  its  immense  riches.  Nature 
always  protects  her  treasures  in  some  way,  and  the  pioneer 
who  seeks  them  pays  the  price  in  some  manner.  This  is  nat- 
ural law  and  cannot  be  escaped. 

This  territory  is  very  close  to  the  equator,  and  in  the  low- 
lands it  gets  hot  and  stays  hot,  while  in  portions  of  the  high- 
lands of  the  eastern  Andes  it  gets  cold  and  stays  cold.  The 
rainfall  in  some  sections  approximates  200  inches  a  year, 
which,  you  will  observe,  makes  a  pretty  heavy  shower  almost 
every  day,  if  spread  over  the  entire  year. 


BRAZIL  545 

They  have  mosquitoes  there,  and  oh,  my  countrymen! 
what  mosquitoes !  A  bite  from  one  of  them  is  an  event  long 
to  be  remembered,  even  if  it  does  not  inoculate  you  with  one  of 
the  dread  diseases  of  the  tropics.  Every  one  carries  his  own 
mosquito  netting,  and  woe  to  the  man  who  falls  asleep  with- 
out first  protecting  himself. 

A  species  of  small  spotted  fly  seems  to  exist  by  the  mil- 
lions ;  its  bite  is  very  painful  and  the  effects  of  it  last  for  days. 
There  are  small  red  ants,  more  numerous  than  one  likes,  having 
a  bite  that  makes  the  skin  feel  as  though  it  were  being  punc- 
tured by  a  red-hot  needle.  Aside  from  these  there  are  numer- 
ous bugs  and  ants  that  make  life  miserable  for  the  person  who 
has  no  protection. 

There  is  considerable  game,  and  the  jaguar  is  plentiful. 
Swimming  is  not  an 
attractive  sport  on 
account  of  the  nu- 
merous alligato  r  s, 
electric  eels  and  the 
pyranha,  a  fish  with 
rows  of  needle-like 
teeth,  which  is  blood- 
thirsty and  aggres- 

sjve     '  A  JAGUAR,  THE  MOST  DANGEROUS  ANIMAL 

Yes,  there  are  In-         OF  THE  SOUTH  AMERICAN  FORESTS. 
dians    there,    too. 

Some  docile,  dirty  and  lazy ;  others  are  treacherous  and  likely 
to  make  trouble  on  the  slightest  provocation.  You  are  never 
real  sure  of  an  Indian  in  his  native  state. 

However,  the  "iron  horse  of  commerce"  is  the  greatest 
civilizer  yet  conceived  by  the  human  mind;  the  Indians  may 
"turn  tail"  and  flee  into  the  forests  when  its  shrill  whistle  is 
first  heard ;  they  may  hide  in  the  tangled  tropical  swamps  and 
shoot  poisoned  arrows  at  it  as  it  goes  rushing  by,  but  the  time 
will  come  when  they  or  their  descendants  will  probably  be 
shoveling  coal  into  its  fiery  furnace  or  acting  as  brakemen  on 
the  train  it  pulls. 

One  railroad  always  means  more;  the  pioneer  road  has 
been  constructed  into  the  heart  of  this  fertile  region,  and  as 
35 


546  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  years  go  by  branches  will  radiate  from  it  in  every  direc- 
tion, until  the  whole  country  is  bound  together  by  bands  of 
steel,  over  which  settlers  will  go  in  to  take  from  the  soil  its 
vast  riches.  In  every  new  country  where  the  soil  is  particu- 
larly fertile  there  are  forests  and  rank  growth  of  verdure,  and 
always  in  such  regions,  there  are,  at  first,  fevers  and  torment- 
ing insects  and  miasmatic  poisons.  But  man  ultimately  con- 
quers all  these  things,  for  man  by  a  decree  of  Nature  has 
been  made  'lord  of  the  soil,"  and  in  the  centuries  to  come  he 
will  tame  and  civilize  this  region.  That  is  evolution — that,  I 
believe,  is  destiny. 

And  now  I  have  to  say  good-by  to  Brazil.  After  traveling 
through  a  country  so  great  as  this,  it  is  difficult  to  sum  up 
one's  impressions.  To  my  mind  the  immensity  of  its  area  and 
the  lavish  way  in  which  Nature  has  endowed  Brazil,  stand 
out  distinctly.  In  these  two  items  it  justifies  the  title — mag- 
nificent. As  for  the  achievements  of  its  people,  I  found  much 
to  praise.  They  have  some  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  yet 
built  by  man.  The  architecture  of  any  country  indicates  the 
mental  character  of  the  people,  and  clearly  a  large  class  of 
Brazilians  have  good  taste.  I  owe  them  thanks  for  my  enjoy- 
ment of  the  beauty  of  their  homes  and  cities,  and  I  am  grate- 
ful to  them  for  many  generous  courtesies  and  helpful  favors. 
I  was  a  "stranger  within  their  gates,"  and  they  treated  me 
well.  I  thank  them  for  it,  and  prophesy  for  their  nation  a 
great  future, 


THE  THREE  GUIANAS 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
THREE  UNIQUE  COLONIES. 

ALL  the  territory  of  South  America  is  under  self-govern- 
ment, save  a  relatively  small  strip  on  the  northeastern 
coast,  which  is  held  under  colonial  rule  by  Great  Britain,  Hol- 
land and  France.  The  ten  republics  (eleven,  if  the  Republic 
of  Panama  be  included)  are  the  larger,  stronger  countries  and, 
naturally  call  for  greater 
space  in  a  study  of  the  con- 
tinent. Nearly  one-half  of 
North  America  is  under  the 
dominion  of  a  European  king, 
while  South  America  is  al- 
most wholly  republican  in 
government.  This  can  be  said 
of  no  other  continent. 

The  territory  known  as  the 
three  Guianas  drew  its  name 
from  an  old  Indian  tribe,  and 
originally  embraced  what  is 
now  a  part  of  Venezuela  and 
Brazil.  It  was,  in  a  sense,  an 
immense  island,  bounded  by 
the  Amazon,  Rio  Negro, 
Cassiquiare  and  Orinoco 
Rivers  and  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  This  original  tract  of 
country  was  in  size  nearly 
equal  to  one-third  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  It  was  one  of  the 
very  first  portions  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere  discov- 
ered by  white  men.  Colum- 
bus, only  seven  years  after  his 
first  historic  voyage,  sighted 


HINDOO   GIRL,    BRITISH    GUIANA. 


547 


548 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


the  coast  of  Guiana.  It  is  not  recorded  that  he  went  ashore. 
In  this  he  seems  to  have  been  wise,  as  hundreds  of  later 
adventurers  lost  their  lives  in  attempting  exploration  of  the 
hot,  unhealthy  coast  and  jungle-filled  valleys  of  this  vast 
region.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  1595,  attempted  to  lead  an 
expedition  into  the  interior,  thinking  the  new  El  Dorado  pos- 
sibly was  there.  But  he  changed  his  mind ;  malaria  and  super- 
heated atmosphere  and  tangled  jungles  seemed  hardly  favor- 
able to  the  discovery  of  a  blessed  El  Dorado. 

The  first  real  settlers  in  the  region  were  the  Dutch,  who  in 

1581  founded  a  colony  on 
that  portion  of  the  coast 
which  is  now  British  Gui- 
ana. Oddly  enough,  the 
Dutch  first  occupied  British 
Guiana  and  the  British  first 
settled  what  is  now  Dutch 
Guiana.  They  got  "swapped 
about"  by  the  Dutch  being 
driven  out  by  the  Spaniards 
in  1596,  while,  two  hundred 
years  later,  the  British 
drove  out  the  Spaniards, 
and  the  Dutch  got  a  foot- 
ing on  another  portion  of 
the  coast. 

The  average  American 
confuses  the  word  "Guir 
ana"  with  "Guinea,"  and  is 
about  as  much  in  the  dark 

regarding  the  Guianas,  three  European  possessions  in  South 
America,  as  he  is  relative  to  Guinea,  the  African  land.  The 
early  writers  made  the  same  mistake,  and  the  little  rodent, 
native  of  Guiana,  was  dubbed  "the  Guinea  pig." 

The  colonies — British,  Dutch  and  French  Guiana — have 
been  intimately  associated,  in  history  and  commerce,  with  the 
West  Indian  Islands  rather  than  with  the  continent.  To  reach 
them,  the  traveler  usually  goes  to  Trinidad,  British  West 
Indies,  and  transships  to  Demerara,  as  British  Guiana  is  popu- 


IN  A  CANE-FIELD,  BRITISH 
GUIANA. 


THE  THREE  GUI  AN  AS  549 

larly  called.  The  Guianas  lie  on  the  forehead  of  South  Amer- 
ica between  Venezuela  and  Brazil.  They  had  a  fair  start  with 
the  other  countries  of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  but  they  have 
not  won  a  creditable  position  in  the  commercial  race.  In  this, 
even  some  of  the  Central  American  republics  are  ahead  of 
them. 

Many  people  believe  that  the  three  European  powers  con- 
trolling these  colonies  have  given  them  little  attention  because 
of  the  scope  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  British  Guiana,  to  be 
sure,  has  been  forced  to  "hustle  for^herself"  since  her  youth; 
but  this  is  Great  Britain's  policy  with  all  her  offspring.  Dutch 
Guiana,  on  the  other  hand,  has  never  been  self-supporting,  and 
receives  assistance  from  the  Netherlands.  Poor  French  Guiana 
is  forever  in  disgrace — the  penal  colony  of  the  motherland. 
The  colonies  have  suffered  greatly  from  raids  of  privateers, 
slave  revolts,  capture  by  enemy,  endemic  diseases  and  insect 
pests.  But  in  spite  of  all  this,  the  foreign  trade  of  the  three 
countries  reached  $28,000,000  in  1911. 

In  British  and  Dutch  Guiana  every  acre  under  cultivation 
has  had  to  struggle  with  the  sea — a  narrow  strip  along  the 
coast  rescued  from  mango  swamps  by  an  elaborate  system  of 
dams  and  dikes.  The  more  habitable  highlands  are  not  yet 
settled,  being  covered  by  the  primeval  forest.  In  French 
Guiana,  the  coast  swamps  are  replaced  by  verdant  hills  which 
meet  the  sea.  Least  loved  by  its  European  mother,  it  is  by  far 
the  loveliest  of  the  three  Guianas. 

BRITISH  GUIANA. 

Area,  90,500  square  miles — Population,  270,000,  including  125- 
ooo  Hindoos  and  many  negroes — Natural  products,  sugar, 
rice,  diamonds,  rubber,  rum,  molascuit  (cattle  food)  — 
Total  exports  in  1911,  $8,000,000 — Imports  from  the 
United  States  about  $3,500,000  annually— Capital,  George- 
town, population,  55,000. 

In  the  old  days  "when  Sugar  was  King,"  British  Guiana 
had  great  hopes  for  the  future,  but  the  country  received  a  hard 
jolt  when  Great  Britain  abolished  the  preferential  bounty  to  her 
colonies.  Still,  sugar  and  its  by-products—rum,  molasses  and 


A  BRITISH  GUIANA  HINDOO  WOMAN,  IMPORTED  FROM  EAST  INDIA. 


THE  THREE  GUI  AN  AS  551 

molascuit  (cattle  food) — continue  to  lead,  representing  seventy- 
five  per  cent  of  the  exports  of  $8,000,000  in  1911.  Rice  is  now 
cultivated  successfully,  and  250,000  bags  were  exported  during 
the  season  of  1911.  The  agricultural  outlook  for  the  season 
of  1912  was  not  bright,  for  the  worst  drought  in  forty  years 
was  scorching  the  whole  northern  section  of  South  America  at 
the  time  I  was  there. 

British  Guiana  has  a  population  of  270,000.  The  local  in- 
crease has  fallen  off  10,000  in  the  last  ten  years,  but  the  popula- 
tion nevertheless  grows  with  the  importation  of  "coolies"  from 
India.  There  are  now  125,000  of  these  Hindoos  in  the  colony. 
They  are  indentured — the  men  for  five,  the  women  for  three 
years — to  labor  on  the  sugar  estates  and  in  the  rice  fields,  re- 
ceiving twenty- four  cents  a  day  and  furnishing  their  own  food. 
When  their  term  of  indenture  is  past,  the  most  of  these  East 
Indians  remain  in  the  country.  They  have  lost  caste  in  cross- 
ing the  ocean,  and  know  that  they  will  not  be  well  received  in 
their  home  land.  Instead,  they  remain  in  the  New  World  as 
free  men,  cultivating  their  own  land  and  even  becoming  em- 
ployers of  indentured  labor  themselves. 

These  Hindoos  furnish  the  planter  with  cheap  and  reliable 
labor.  The  negroes  are  given  to  "strikes."  On  several  oc- 


^wH^  •  ' 


CANAL  IN   STREET  IN   GEORGETOWN,  BRITISH   GUIANA,   FILLED 
WITH    VICTORIA    REGIA    LILIES. 


552 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


casions  they  have  caused  the  riot  act  to  be  read,  and  in  1905  it 
required  the  marines  of  two  British  warships  to  subdue  the 
striking  longshoremen,  who  demanded  a  raise  from  sixty  cents 
a  day.  Hindoo  children,  born  in  the  colony,  are  unhampered 
by  caste,  the  curse  of  India,  and  are  intelligent  and  adaptable. 
Schools  are  maintained  by  the  Government  on  the  sugar  estates. 
Georgetown,  the  capital  of  the  colony,  lies  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Demerara  River.  It  was  originally  settled  by  the  Dutch, 
and  is  below  sea  level,  protected  by  a  dike  built  and  maintained, 
on  shares,  by  the  planters  near  the  sea  and  the  Government. 
Sea  level  is  reached  nine  miles  inland.  The  leading  streets 
have  wide  trenches,  bordered  by  trees  and  grass  plots,  and  filled 
with  gigantic  Victoria  Regia  lilies.  These  magnificent  night- 
bloomers,  native  to  the  Guianas,  were  discovered  in  1835  and 
named  in  honor  of  Queen  Victoria.  It  seems  rather  a  pity,  but 

the  lilies  and 
trenches  are 
doomed.  George- 
town has  voted 
$100,000  for  sani- 
tation, and  work 
begins  with  the 
filling  in  of  all 
ditches  to  elimi- 
nate the  breeding 
grounds  of  mos- 
quitoes. 

The  c  a  p  i  t  aU 
with  4,700  vessels 
clearing  yearly,  is 
a  busy  port.  It  is 
favored  by  cool 
trade  winds  from 
the  Atlantic,  and 
the  h  o  use  s  are 
built,  in  part,  of 
Venetian  blin  d  s 
called  "Demerara 
shutters,"  which 


A   TYPICAL    HOME,    GEORGETOWN,    BRITISH    GUIANA. 


THE  THREE  GUI  AN  AS 


553 


A  "NATIVE  SON/'  BRITISH  GUIANA. 

invite  the  breeze  but  debar  the  sunlight.  This  style  of  arch- 
itecture has  spread  over  the  Caribbean  countries. 

British  Guiana  had  the  fifth  railway  in  the  world,  and  it  still 
has  it,  with  a  few  short  additions.  Berbice,  also  on  the  coast,  is 
the  second  city  of  importance.  The  rivers  are  the  great  high- 
ways, and  navigation  is  being  extended  far  up  to  the  great 
forests  of  "greenheart,"  a  valuable  hardwood  used  in  dock  con- 
struction. The  gold  mines  and  diamond  fields  are  reached 
by  canoe  from  the  head  of  steam  navigation.  It  requires  twen- 
ty days  to  journey  to  them,  a  great  handicap  to  their  develop- 
ment. Railways  are  now  being  projected  to  this  little  known 
region. 

In  the  diamond  fields,  no  true  "pipe"  has  yet  been  discov- 
ered. The  diamonds  are  small,  the  26,000  stones  exported  last 
year  weighing  only  3,000  carats.  The  forest  abounds  in  bullet 
trees,  from  which  balata  (rubber  milk)  is  obtained,  and  innu- 


554  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

merable  other  woods  of  value  to  commerce  when  transportation 
is  made  easier. 

Far  back  in  the  heart  of  the  highland  forest  are  the  Kaieteur 
Falls,  numbered  among  the  four  great  waterfalls  of  the  world. 
Rest  houses  have  recently  been  built  along  the  river  route  lead- 
ing to  this  wonderland,  and  travelers  can  reach  Kaieteur  with- 
out great  discomfort.  The  river,  nearly  400  feet  in  width, 
flows  quietly  to  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  and  falls  741  feet, 
about  five  times  the  height  of  Niagara.  With  the  tropical  forest 
as  a  setting,  the  scene  is  a  marvelous  one,  and  in  time  this  spot 
will  become  a  mecca  for  Nature  lovers. 

To  go  back  to  the  coast  and  to  the  colony's  commerce,  our 
trade  with  British  Guiana  amounts  to  twenty  per  cent  of  the 
total  $17,000,000.  We  send  the  sugar  planters  bone  phosphate 
for  cane  fertilization,  also  kerosene,  flour,  lumber,  canned 
meats,  machinery  and  patent  medicines.  A  tribute  has  been 
paid  to  our  system  of  currency,  for  while  the  British  pound, 
shilling  and  pence  are  in  use,  all  prices  are  quoted  in  dollars 
and  cents,  and  accounts  are  kept  in  United  States  currency 
figures  for  the  sake  of  convenience.  All  the  British  colonies  in 
this  quarter  of  the  world  (with  the  exception  of  Jamaica)  are 
arranging  for  special  trade  treaties  with  Canada,  but  sugar 
admitted  free  of  duty  into  the  United  States  will  spoil  all  their 
plans. 

DUTCH  GUIANA. 

Area,  46,000  square  miles — Population,  70,000,  of  which  only 
about  4,000  are  whites — Natural  products,  cacao,  sugar, 
bananas,  gold,  valuable  woods — Resources  but  little  de- 
veloped, commerce  small  in  volume — Total  exports,  $3,- 
000,000  in  ion — Capital,  Paramaribo,  population,  40,000. 

When  it  comes  to  real  hard  luck  among  the  colonies, 
"the  Dutch  have  it."  The  settlers  in  Dutch  Guiana  reclaimed 
the  sea,  cleared  away  the  mangroves,  and  extended  their  work- 
up  into  the  forests.  They  planted  cacao,  reaping  bountiful 
crops,  and  a  blight  came  along  affecting  about  every  tree  in  the 
country.  The  sugar-cane  developed  a  disease  all  its  own.  The 
discouraged  planters,  hearing  that  every  man,  woman  and 


556 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


child  in  the  United  States,  after  eating  three  dozen  bananas 
each  per  year,  called  for  more,  took  heart.  They  asked  Mother 
Holland  to  give  them  a  million  dollars  to  start  them  in  the 
"Banana  Game."  She  consented,  and  the  United  Fruit  Com- 
pany agreed  to  purchase  the  product.  Four  new  steamers  were 
put  in  service  by  the  Dutch  line  to  rush  the  cargo  to  hungry 
New  York.  The  tide  of  luck  seemed  to  have  turned  for  the 
colonists.  The  first  banana  crop  was  a  huge  success.  Then, 
like  a  flash,  the  banana  plants  developed  an  incurable  illness. 
"Mother  Holland  refusing  another  loan  to  her  affected  colony" 
is  the  last  touching  tableau. 

There  is  still  a  little  commerce,  however.  The  exports 
amounted  to  $3,000,000  in  1911 — sugar,  gold,  a  little  cacao — 
with  symptoms  of  general  improvement.  A  large  forest  con- 
cession has  recently  been  granted,  to  be  worked  for  wood  pulp 
for  American  paper  manufacturers.  There  is  one  railroad  in 
the  country  which  extends  sixty  miles  into  the  forest.  The 
Dutch  steamers,  which  conduct  a  fortnightly  service  between 
Amsterdam  and  New  York,  touch  at  Dutch  Guiana,  bringing 
cheese  and  gin  and  other  "necessaries"  to  the  colonists.  There 


MARKET    SCENE   IN    PARAMARIBO,   DUTCH    GUIANA. 


558 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


BLACK    CREOLE    WOMEN,   DUTCH    GUIANA. 

are  not  many  passengers  on  the  return  voyage,  as  the  few 
thousand  Dutch  people  in  the  colony  have  little  money  to  spend. 

Of  the  70,000  inhabitants,  40,000  live  in  Paramaribo,  the 
capital.  There  are  only  4,000  whites,  the  negroes,  descendants 
of  the  slaves,  forming  the  greater  portion  of  the  population. 
There  are  East  Indians,  as  in  British  Guiana,  as  Great  Britain 
formerly  permitted  the  Dutch  Guiana  Government  to  bring  out 
indentured  Hindoos  from  India.  This  permission  has  been 
revoked,  and  now  the  planters  depend  on  free  coolie  labor  and 
on  Javanese  brought  from  the  Netherlands'  East  Indian  pos- 
sessions. 

Paramaribo  is  on  a  bank  of  the  Surinam  River,  about  four- 
teen miles  from  the  sea.  Surinam  is  also  the  Dutch  name  for 
the  colony.  Paramaribo  is  interesting  to  us  as  "the  city  which 
was  exchanged  for  New  York"  when  the  British  took  New 
Amsterdam,  the  present  site  of  Manhattan,  and  the  Dutch  got 
Surinam,  which  was  formerly  British.  This  was  back  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  Paramaribo  is  a  very  picturesque  old 
town,  with  peaked-roofed  houses  and  shaded  streets.  One  ave- 


THE  THREE  GUI  AN  AS 


559 


nue  is  lined  with  magnificent  mahogany  trees  worth  $40,000. 
At  least,  an  American  lumber  firm  offered  that  price  for  the 
timber,  but  there  is  little  danger  of  the  great  trees  being  de- 
stroyed, as  the  natives  are  enormously  proud  of  them. 

The  black  creole  women  are  exceedingly  picturesque.  They 
wear  a  costume  called  the  kotto-mcssi — a  very  wide  skirt  looped 
over  a  cord  at  the  hips,  a  full,  short  blouse  and  a  kerchief  tied 
to  produce  a  broad  effect.  In  the  market  place,  sitting  on  the 
ground  before  their  wares,  they  resemble  huge  mushrooms. 
They  speak  a  language  called  Taki-Taki,  a  weird  mixture  of 


DR.  BRADLEY,  UNITED  STATES  CONSUL  IN  SURINAM,  DUTCH 
GUIANA,  AT  HIS  MINE  IN  THE  "BUSH/"' 

many  tongues.     The  language  of  Holland  is  known  only  to  the 
small  educated  class. 

There  are  a  number  of  Jews  in  the  colony  whose  ancestors 
fled  to  Holland  when  expelled  from  Spain  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Of  all  the  strange  people  to  be  found  here,  the  Bosch 
(Bush)  negroes  are  the  most  interesting  to  the  traveler.  They 
live  in  the  forest,  but  a  few  are  occasionally  seen  in  town.  Many 
years  ago  the  planters  sent  their  African  slaves  into  the  woods 
to  escape  payment  when  the  tax  collector  made  his  rounds.  The 
blacks  escaped  into  the  wilderness  and  never  returned  to  the 


5<5o 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


plantations.  They  live  just  about  as  their  cousins  do  in  the 
wilds  of  Africa  and  are  worshipers  of  Obeah.  The  Indians  of 
the  forest  are  not  fierce  savages,  being  mostly  of  the  Arawak 
tribe,  long  allies  of  the  colonists,  but  they  are  shy  and  keep 
away  from  civilization,  preferring  their  primeval  solitude.  On 
a  bank  of  the  Surinam  River,  not  far  from  Paramaribo,  is  a 
Moravian  mission  home  for  lepers.  It  was  formerly  supported 
altogether  by  the  order  in  America,  but  now  receives  help  from 
the  Dutch  Guiana  Government. 

FRENCH  GUIANA. 

A  FrencH  penal  colony — Area,  34,000  square  miles — Popula- 
tion, about  39,000,  of  which  8,000  are  prisoners — Natural 
resources,  numerous  tropical  products,  but  little  developed 
—Total  exports  in  1911,  $2,300,000 — Capital,  Cayenne, 
population,  12,000,  mostly  black. 

We  have  all  heard  of  cayenne  pepper.  Well,  it  does  not 
come  from  Cayenne,  the  capital  of  French  Guiana.  But  the 
colony  did  start  the  little  red  condiment  on  its  mad  career 
around  the  globe.  Some  thirty  other  varieties  of  pepper  are 


VIEW   IN    HARBOR,   CAYENNE,   FRENCH   GUIANA. 


THE  THREE  GUIANAS 


indigenous  to  the 
country,  which  may 
have  influenced  the 
French  Govern- 
ment to  select  this 
hot  place  as  a  dom- 
icile for  its  con- 
victs. There  are 
eight  thousand 
prisoners  there 
now !  Twice  a  year 
the  convict  ship 
comes  in  from 
France  with  its  car- 
go of  wretches  in 
steel  cages.  The 
death  rate  in  the 
colony  is  terrific,  so 
that  two  thousand 
yearly  additions 
about  fill  the  va- 
cancies. 

Prisoners  receiv- 
ing over  a  five-year 
sentence  are  r  e- 
quired  to  serve  an 
additional  term  of 
the  same  period  as 
settlers  in  the  col- 
ony. Alth  o  u  g  h 
the  mouths  of  the 
rivers  are  guarded 
and  the  forest  is 
very  nearly  impas- 
sable, many  prison- 
ers, paroled  on  this 
second  term,  man- 
age to  escape,  mak- 
ing their  perilous 


36 


CONVICTS  ON   THE  WAY  TO  WORK,  NEAR 
CAYENNE,   FRENCH   GUIANA. 


562  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


NATIVE   HUMAN   TYPES  OF   FRENCH   GUIANA. 

way  to  Dutch  and  even  to  British  Guiana.  In  Paramaribo 
there  are  agents  of  a  society  formed  in  France,  whose  members 
are  friends  of  the  convicts,  and  through  this  agency  the  refugees 
are  provided  with  money  and  clothes  to  further  their  efforts  to 
escape. 

Not  far  from  the  city  of  Cayenne  is  Devil's  Island,  where 
Dreyfus,  the  famous  Frenchman,  was  confined  for  a  long 
period  behind  a  barricade.  The  island  bears  an  unusually  good 
reputation  for  healthfulness,  the  local  name  being  ''Island  of 
Health."  Formerly  the  French  Government  sent  many  pris- 
oners to  New  Caledonia,  but  the  convicts  lived  so  long  there 
that  the  place  was  abandoned.  There  is  no  danger  about 
Cayenne.  It  holds  the  record  as  a  death-trap !  This,  however, 
is  due  in  great  part  to  the  treatment  accorded  the  prisoners. 
Forced  to  labor  in  the  fierce  tropical  sun  on  scant  rations,  they 
quickly  succumb.  The  convicts  have  built  some  thirty  miles  of 


THE  THREE  GUI  AN  AS 


563, 


roads  in  the  country,  but  there  is  practically  no  agriculture  nor 
cattle  raising. 

The  colonial  appointments  are  political,  and  there  is  much 
criticism  regarding  the  method  of  government.  With  timber 
and  cabinet  woods  that  compare  favorably  with  those  in  other 
tropical  lands,  there  has  been  practically  no  attempt  to  develop 
the  forest  resources.  There  is  not  a  mile  of  railroad  in  the 
country.  The  French  Guiana  forest  has  a  unique  product — oil 
of  rosewood — which  is  extracted  and  exported.  Seven  fac- 
tories for  distilling  the  oil  are  now  in  operation,  and  in  1911 
over  $100,000  worth  of  oil  was  sent  to  France  to  be  used  as  a 
substitute  for  attar  or  "otto"  of  roses.  It  brings  $1.75  per 
pound.  The  forest  streams  are  also  rich  in  gold,  the  principal 
export,  amounting  to  $2,000,000  of  the  total  export  of  $2,300,- 
ooo.  This  gold  is  secured  by  the  hand  labor  of  negroes.  As 
there  is  an  export  tax  on  gold  dust,  many  goldsmiths  are  em- 
ployed in  the  mining  sections  working  the  gold  dust  into  crude 
jewelry.  The  home-coming  miners  are  fairly  ablaze  with  orna- 
ments, and  avoid  the  tax. 


INDIANS  FROM   THE  WILDS  OF  FRENCH   GUIANA 


564 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


MARKET  WOMEN  OF  CAYENNE,  FRENCH  GUIANA. 

The  gold  streams  are  reached  only  by  canoe,  a  long  journey 
with  many  portages,  and  this  lack  of  transportation  greatly 
hinders  the  growth  of  the  industry.  It  costs  $150  to  convey  a 
ton  of  provisions  to  the  mines.  An  island  off  the  coast  con- 
tains phosphate  rock,  $50,000  worth  being  shipped  to  America 
in  1911. 

Cayenne,  the  capital,  is  situated  on  an  island  very  near  the 
coast.  It  has  a  population  of  12,000,  mostly  blacks.  There  are 
a  few  whites,  French  colonial  officers  and  their  families — a 
homesick  lot  of  exiles,  longing  for  the  lights  of  "gay  Paree.'' 
Once  a  month  a  steamer  comes  in  from  France.  The  remainder 
of  the  time  the  isolated  ones  depend  on  the  cable  for  home 
news,  and  count  the  days  before  their  return  to  civilization. 
But  the  convicts  ?  Alas,  they  seldom  return. 


VENEZUELA 


Area,  393,870  square  miles,  or  over  five  times  the  area  of  the 
great  State  of  Illinois — Population,  in  ion,  2,713,703, 
about  fifteen  per  cent  Indian,  estimated — Chief  natural 
resources,  coffee,  cattle,  valuable  woods,  rubber,  chemicals, 
cacao,  gold,  asphalt,  iron,  silver,  copper,  diamonds,  pearls, 
petroleum,  fruits — Exports,  ion,  $23,000,000,  imports, 
$17,000,000 — Exports  in  ion  to  United  States,  $7,635,- 
256;  imports  from  United  States,  $5,200,000 — Army,  peace 
footing,  0,000,  war  footing,  60,000 — Navy,  6  ships,  300 
officers  and  men — Capital,  Caracas,  population,  75,000. 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


V 


AN   INTERESTING  COUNTRY. 

OF  ALL  the  republics  in  South  America,  Uncle  Sam  has 
had    the    greatest    opportunity    for    demonstrating    his 
friendship  toward  his  nearest  neighbor,  Venezuela. 

Two  monuments  stand  today  in  Puerto  Cabello  and  Mar- 
acay  to  the  memory  of  American  volunteers  who  gave  their 
lives  to  help  free  Venezuela  from  the  Spanish 
yoke.  Uncle  Sam  was  the  first  to  recognize 
her  as  an  independent  nation.  When  the 
earthquake  of  1812  killed  30,000  people  and 
laid  her  capital  in  ruins,  he  took  $100,000  from 
his  strong-box  and  rushed  to  her  succor.  He 
offered  a  refuge  to  her  great  hero,  General 
Paez,  when  banished  by  political  enemies, 
nursed  him  through  a  long  illness,  and,  at  his 
death,  returned  the  remains,  with  official  es- 
cort, to  his  grateful  countrymen. 

But  the  proof  of  more  than  friendship  came 
in  our  times,  1895,  when  Tio 
Sam  (Uncle  Sam),  at  the  risk  of 
an  appalling  war,  halted  Great 
Britain  and  forced  her  to  restore 
to  the  Venezuelan  map  the  cov- 
eted Orinoco  territory. 


STATUE  IN  MARACAY,  VENEZUELA,  TO 

AMERICANS  WHO  FOUGHT  TO  FREE 

VENEZUELA. 


565 


566 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


This  readiness  to  extend  the  helping  hand  across  the  Carib- 
bean Sea  has,  at  times,  caused  his  motives  to  be  impugned  in 
some  quarters.  Venezuela,  however,  has  royally  embraced 
the  opportunity  of  entertaining  Secretary  of  State  Knox,  the 
first  call  from  a  member  of  Uncle  Sam's  official  family,  thus 
demonstrating  her  appreciation  of  his  long  list  of  favors. 

Venezuela  appeared  on  the  map  at  an  early  date  in  New 
World  history.  Columbus,  rounding  the  Islands  of  Trinidad 
on  his  third  voyage  in  1498,  sighted  the  mainland.  One  of  his 
officers  went  ashore  and  planted  the  flag  of  Spain.  A  few 
years  ago  the  Venezuelan  Government  erected  a  monument  at 
this  point,  naming  the  territory  "Cristobal  Colon." 

The  year  following  the  discovery  by  Columbus,  the  Spanish 
sailor  Ojeda,  accompanied  by  Amerigo  Vespucci,  the  Italian 
pickle  dealer  whose  name  through  accident  designates  the  lands 
of  the  New  World,  skirted  the  whole  coast  of  the  country.  On 
entering  the  great  Gulf  of  Maracaibo  he  noted  an  Indian  village 
built  on  piles  on  its  half-submerged  shores,  the  natives  using 
canoes  for  communication  between  huts.  A  powerful  imagina- 
tion, inherent  in  the  Spanish  race,  caused  Ojeda  to  fancy  a  re- 


ERECTING  ARCH  IN   HONOR  OF  VISIT  OF  UNITED  STATES 
SECRETARY  OF  STATE  KNOX,  CARACAS,  VENEZUELA. 


VENEZUELA 


567 


THE  CATHEDRAL  TOWER,  CARACAS,  VENE- 
ZUELA, ILLUMINATED  IN   HONOR 
OF  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  KNOX. 


semblance  to  Venice,  hence 

"Venezuela"    or    "Little 

Venice."    Thus  an  inappro- 
priate name  has  clung  to  a 

mountainous   region  larger 

than  the  combined  area  of 

Oklahoma,  Arkansas,  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  Alabama, 

Mississippi  and  Louisiana. 
Venezuela,  with  her  390,- 

ooo    square    miles,    stands 

sixth,  or  just  halfway,   in 

point   of    size,    among   the 

eleven    republics    on    the 

Southern  continent.      Few 

lands  are  more  favored  by 

nature.     The  resources  are 

enormous  and  as  yet  hardly 

touched.     The  concern  of 

the  United  States  is  a  close 

one  and  must  become  still  closer  with  the  completion  of  the 

canal. 

While  recipient  of  so  many  official  favors  from  our  Gov- 
ernment, Venezuela  has  received  but  little  attention  from  the 
individual  American.  Today  there  are  less  than  half  a  dozen 
men,  born  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  who  are  permanent 
residents  of  the  country.  Germany  and  Italy  transplanted 
many  sons  to  the  Caribbean  shores  a  generation  ago,  and  their 
children  are  now  the  thriving  merchants  of  the  republic. 

In  the  past  the  American  manufacturer  has  depended  on 
"buying  demand"  rather  than  on  "selling  effort"  in  placing  his 
wares,  but  of  late  he  is  making  a  belated,  though  fairly  success- 
ful, endeavor  to  secure  the  trade  which  is  his  by  right  of  geo- 
graphical location. 

We  will  soon  need  the  products  from  Venezuela's  fertile 
lands  to  eke  out  our  larder.  As  the  man  from  the  West  re- 
marked, "We're  willin'  to  go  ragged,  but  we  must  eat !"  Since 
all  commerce  is  a  matter  of  exchange,  it  is  well  that  American 


568  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

manufacturers  are  delivering  some  monkey-wrenches  and  type- 
writers along  with  our  orders  for  beef  and  coffee. 

The  Venezuelan  Government  has  recently  collated  its  trade 
figures  for  1911  and  is  jubilant  over  the  showing.  The  total 
trade  advance  over  the  previous  year  was  $10,000,000,  an  in- 
crease of  over  twenty-five  per  cent — startling  figures ! 

While  Uncle  Sam  sold  goods  valued  at  over  $5,000,000,  an 
increase  of  $1,500,000,  Great  Britain's  sales  advanced  over 
$2,000,000,  topping  our  figure  by  $200,000.  Germany,  though 
third,  with  $3,500,0000,  had  an  increase  of  $1,250,000.  Vene- 
zuela's exported  products  were  valued  at  $23,000,000,  imports 
$17,000,000,  a  most  satisfactory  balance  of  trade  in  her  favor. 
This  argues  well  for  the  country's  commercial  future. 

"La  Guayra  ?"  said  the  American  Canal  Zone  doctor,  when 
I  asked  about  Venezuela's  front  door.  "It's  a  fever  hole.  We 
quarantine  against  it !'" 

"La  Guayra!"  says  the  native  of  the  country,  "Bonita! 
Preciosa!"  but  complimentary  adjectives  fail  him.  He  kisses 
his  hand  to  it. 

I  have  found  no  South  American  port  more  picturesque. 
Here  the  mist-crowned  Andes  bathe  their  feet  in  the  sea.  Like 
nimble  Alpine  goats,  the  little  pink  and  blue  houses  of  the  old 
town  climb  the  hills  and  overhang  the  cliffs.  Viewed  from  the 
Caribbean,  the  few  level  streets  by  the  shore  are  scarcely  visible. 

"How  on  earth  do  we  reach  Caracas?"  asked  the  man  next 
to  me  as  we  came  into  port.  I  pointed  to  a  trail  straight  up  to 
the  summit  of  the  mountain. 

"That  must  be  the  old  Indian  path,"  I  said,  "for  Caracas 
lies  just  over  that  wall.  But  the  captain  says  we  zigzag  up, 
now,  the  long  way  round  by  rail." 

In  days  gone  by  La  Guayra's  harbor  was  an  open  roadstead 
and  a  terror  to  seamen.  Now  a  massive  breakwater  protects 
the  safe  little  port  where  ships  dock. 

In  1885  a  British  company  had  the  foresight  to  secure  the 
exclusive  concession  for  dock  privileges,  and  now  all  shipping 
must  pay  it  tribute.  True,  the  company  spent  $5,000,000  in 
dredging  the  harbor,  constructing  the  breakwater,  and  building 
the  railroad  which  brings  passengers  and  freight  from  ship  to 
custom  house,  but  the  returns  have  justified  the  outlay.  Each 


VENEZUELA 


569 


passenger  is  taxed  forty  cents  for  a  two-hundred-yard  ride, 
while  his  baggage  is  assessed  on  the  kilo  basis. 

The  railroad  employes  deposit  the  baggage  within  the 
custom  house,  but  are  not  permitted  to  bring  it  out  to  the  plat- 
form where  it  can  be  received  by  the  cartmen  after  inspection. 
A  special  mob  of  porters  has  the  exclusive  privilege  of  moving 
luggage  this  fifty  feet,  relieving  the  protesting  passenger  of  all 
that  is  left  of  his  loose  change. 

The  custom  examination  is  no  perfunctory  one,  for  Vene- 


VIEW  OF  THE  DOCKS  AND  HARBOR,  LA  GUAYRA,  VENEZUELA. 

zuela  derives  a  large  proportion  of  her  revenue  from  import 
duties  and  the  collecting  of  this  tax  has  become  one  of  her  most 
trying  problems.  Fate  has  destined  this  situation  to  be  irritat- 
ing, for  the  country's  long  shore  line  is  fringed  with  coves  at- 
tractive to  the  smuggler,  while  just  off  the  coast  are  several 
islands  under  European  rule,  enjoying  practically  the  privilege 
of  free  ports. 

In  Willemstad,  on  the  Dutch  island  of  Curagao,  and  m  Port 


570  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

of  Spain,  on  the  British  island  of  Trinidad,  there  is  a  strong 
incentive  to  slip  goods  over  Neighbor  Venezuela's  high  tariff 
wall,  as  is  attested  by  numerous  sailing  craft  to  be  seen  in  these 
ports — stormy  petrels  which  go  to  sea  in  heavy  fog  and  high 
gale,  propitious  weather  for  an  unobtrusive  landing.  Venezuela 
has  lately  built  the  first  of  her  coast  patrol  vessels  and  hopes 
to  make  it  interesting  for  smugglers  in  the  future. 

La  Guayra  is  a  busy  port  with  an  average  of  thirty  steamers 
a  month  flying  the  flags  of  seven  nations.  Over  one  of  these 
lines — the  ''Red  D." — floats  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  a  rare  sight 
in  foreign  waters.  This  company  maintains  a  weekly  service 
between  the  United  States  and  Venezuela.  The  only  other 
steamers  connecting  the  two  countries  are  those  of  the  Dutch 
West  Indian  line  via  Haiti.  All  the  other  lines — British, 
French,  Spanish,  Italian  and  German — lace  Venezuela  to 
Europe. 

In  spite  of  its  unenviable  reputation  regarding  health  condi- 
tions, La  Guayra  is  now  attracting  American  tourists  by  the 
shipload.  While  I  was  there  the  White  Star  liner,  Lurentic, 
brought  in  four  hundred  sightseers,  who  were  rushed  up  over 
the  mountains  by  special  train  for  a  peep  at  the  capital.  The 
very  next  day  the  Hamburg-American  liner,  Molke,  landed 
another  lot  of  three  hundred  and  fifty.  Before  the  week  was 
out,  a  second  Hamburg-American  ship  arrived  with  four 
hundred. 

As  there  were  two  cases  of  yellow  fever  in  the  port  the 
arrival  of  so  many  tourists  testifies  that  the  average  American 
will  "take  a  chance ;"  also  to  the  drawing  power  of  Venezuela's 
attractions.  She  is  probably  the  best  advertised  of  all  the 
South  American  republics. 

And  yellow  fever  is  not  the  most  dreaded  scourge  of  her 
ports,  either !  Far  from  it !  Not  long  ago  bubonic  plague  held 
all  this  coast  in  its  deadly  grip,  terrifying  the  medical  world  and 
earning  the  protest  of  the  United  States  Marine  Hospital 
Service. 

"Venezuela  must  be  cleaned  up!"  our  doctors  announced. 
"Otherwise  drastic  action  will  be  taken !"  The  threat  brought 
results,  and  today  bubonic  has  disappeared,  although  sanitary 
conditions  do  not  justify  the  belief  that  it  is  gone  forever. 


VENEZUELA 


''Why  do  we  go  to  Curagao  next  ?  Why  not  to  Porto  Rico 
—it's  just  across  on  the  map  ?"  asked  a  fair  excursionist.  Well, 
why  don't  you  go  if  you  want  to  ?  Simply  because  Uncle  Sam 
won't  let  you. 

After  browsing  about  for  hours  in  musty  curio  shops,  he 
considers  you  a  fit  subject  for  four  days'  disinfection  in  quar- 
antine at  Ponce,  before  allowing  you  to  associate  with  his  thor- 
oughly renovated  adopted  children  in  Porto  Rico. 

You  will  not  embarrass  any  of  the  5,000  portenos  (gate- 
keepers), as  the  inhabitants 
of  La  Guayra  are  dubbed 
by  the  people  of  the  inte- 
rior, if  you  inquire  the  use 
of  the  long  white  building 
which  gleams  among  the 
cocoanut  palms  on  the  cape 
near  the  harbor.  I  tried  it. 
"That,  senorf"  rather 
proudly  came  the  reply, 
"that  is  our  new  hospital 
for  lepers." 

"Are  there  many  lepers 
here?"  I  asked,  trying  to 
conceal  my  horror. 

"Si,  senor,  bastante." 
(Yes,  sir,  enough.) 

Heaven  knows  there  are 
quite  enough!  Just  why 
the  Caribbean  shores 
should  exhibit  so  many  of 

these  wretched  sufferers,  beyond  the  pale  of  medical  science, 
is  still  a  moot  point.  Some  have  advanced  the  theory  that  the 
fish  diet  (fish  which  is  sun-dried,  where  decomposition  sets  in 
before  curing)  is  responsible  for  the  disease,  but  "quien  sake!" 
(who  knows!)  as  they  say  down  here.  Some  action  toward 
segregation  has  been  taken,  but  progress  seems  slow  in  com- 
bating this  most  dreaded  scourge  of  the  Lands  of  the  Sunlit 
Seas. 

Tt  is  marvelous  the  change  in  climate  you  sometimes  meet 


TYPICAL  WINDOW  IN  A  VENEZUE- 
LAN  HOUSE. 


572 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


within  a  short  distance. 
The  suburb  of  Maiquetia, 
just  out  of  La  Guayra,  is 
said  to  be  several  degrees 
cooler  than  the  port.  The 
many  merchants  who  make 
it  their  home  claim  it  is  not 
only  cooler,  but  more 
healthful.  I  found  it  de- 
cidedly warm.  It  is  con- 
nected with  La  Guayra  by 
a  steam  road  which  also 
runs  three  miles,  in  the 
other  direction,  out  to  Ma- 
cuto,  the  favorite  seaside 
resort.  I  decided  to  go  out 
and  look  it  over.  The  trip 
took  about  fifteen  minutes, 
for  which  I  was  taxed 
twenty  cents.  The  road 
skirts  the  shore  and  I  saw 

great  numbers  of  fishing  birds,  a  species  of  pelican  called 
alcatraz  in  Spanish  countries.  They  fly  at  an  altitude  of 
twelve  or  fifteen  feet,  then  suddenly  dive,  landing  their  fish 
about  every  shot. 

I  noted  a  change  of  climate  the  moment  we  puffed  out  of 
La  Guayra,  and  when  I  reached  Macuto  and  was  located  in  a 
front  room  of  the  leading  hotel,  with  the  salt  breezes  rolling  in- 
'way  from  Santo  Domingo,  I  decided  I  would  stay  a  week. 

It  was  "out  of  season,"  still  the  hotel  was  fairly  well  filled. 
Some  haciendaros,  or  ranchers,  were  there  with  their  wives  and 
daughters,  probably  avoiding  the  fashionable  season  by  prefer- 
ence. 

The  real  season,  December,  January,  February,  brings  the 
"society  folks"  from  Caracas  to  this,  their  favorite  resort. 
They  spend  their  time  driving,  riding,  bathing,  and  playing  the 
omnipresent  game  of  Spanish  dominoes  under  the  broad  almond 
trees  which  shade  the  shore.  They  may  also  "take  a  chance" 
at  roulette,  for  I  stumbled  on  a  dusty  outfit  in  a  back  hall. 


JUST  IN  FROM  THE  COUNTRY. 


VENEZUELA 


573 


Bathing  here  is  not  conducted  on  the  "American  plan." 
Not  at  all !  Here,  as  in  other  parts  of  Latin  America,  salt 
water  bathing  is  indulged  in  for  the  tonic  effect  only,  a  sort  of 
doctor's  prescription.  The  bath  house  at  the  end  of  a  little 
pier  has  two  separate  enclosures  surrounded  by  piling,  one  for 
men,  the  other  for  women.  There  is  no  mixed  bathing  as  with 
us.  All  morning  long  the  ladies  passed  my  hotel,  wearing 
simple  attire  and  broad-brimmed  hats,  trailed  by  maids  carry- 
ing towels  and  toilet  articles.  The  men  made  the  pilgrimage 
with  their  towels,  scarf-like,  around  their  necks.  No  frolick- 
ing on  the  beach  as  in  the  U.  S.  A.  No  parade  before  the  gaze 
of  the  populace !  No,  not  in  bathing  costume !  But  there  is  a 
parade,  quite  a  one,  in  the  late  afternoon  and  evening,  on  the 
broad  cement  walk,  flanked  by  the  hotel  piazzas  and  the  rolling 
surf.  Here  the  latest  Paris  fashions  are  exhibited  during  the 
season,  a  military  band  is  in  attendance,  and  the  resort  takes 
on  real  social  prominence. 

I  "hired"  a  carriage  for  eighty  cents  an  hour  and  drove 
about  the  town.     The  many  beautiful  homes — really  elaborate 
ones — surprised  me.      Each  has  its  name,  as  at  our  resorts. 
"Mira  Mar"    (Sea  View), 
is  in  evidence.    This  charm- 
ingly   situated    little    town 
has  about  1,000  inhabitants 
and  supports  three  hotels. 

I  was  astounded  when  I 
deciphered  my  hotel  rate. 
Having  been  rather  heavily 
taxed  for  luggage  at  La 
Guayra,  and  having  paid 
twenty  cents  for  a  three- 
mile  car  ride,  I  was  pre- 
pared for  a  stiff  hotel  bill. 
The  rate  for  room  and  fare 
is  eight  bolivars  a  day.  This 
sounds  high,  but  when 
figured  out,  with  a  bolivar 
worth  twenty  cents — $1.60 
for  a  front  room,  three 

THE  BREAD  MULE,  OR  TRAVELING  BAKERY, 
A  COMMON  SIGHT  IN  VENEZUELA. 


574 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


meals  and  view  of  the  sea  and  mountains  thrown  in !  I  looked 
up  the  proprietor  to  see  if  there  was  not  a  mistake.  No,  there 
wasn't,  and  he  frankly  admitted  that  he  was  making  money, 
and  pointed  to  the  annex  he  is  building  across  the  street.  I  am 
puzzled,  for  on  the  menu  imported  articles  were  listed ;  but 
much,  of  course,  is  home  production. 

Six  varieties  of  fish  were  caught  in  sight  of  our  dining- 
room,  the  broad  veranda  of  the  second  story ;  the  game  we  had 
was  shot  in  the  mountains  just  back  of  the  town;  meat,  vege- 
tables, coffee,  fruit  were  from  the  country.  Bread  is  made 
from  wheat  imported  from  the  States,  rice  from  South  Caro- 
lina; cheese  from  Holland.  There  were  delicious  ices  made 
from  tropical  fruits,  that  from  fresh  cocoanuts  being  especially 
fine,  and  all  for  $1.60!  The  high  tide  of  hotel  rates  has  not 
yet  reached  Venezuela ! 

I  left  La  Guayra  at  eight-thirty  in  the  morning  and  reached 
the  capital  in  two  and  a  half  hours.  It  is  only  seven  miles  as 
the  crow  flies,  but  twenty-three  by  rail.  For  years  Caracas 
was  reached  only  by  a  steep  mule-trail  and  a  roundabout  cart- 
road,  but  in  1883  the  La  Guayra-Caracas  Railroad,  originally 
an  American  enterprise,  was  completed  by  British  capital  at  a 


A  MOUNTAIN  STATION  ON  THE  LA  GUAYRA  AND  CARACAS 
RAILROAD,  VENEZUELA. 


VENEZUELA 


575 


cost  of  nearly  $100,000  per  mile.  It  is  a  remarkable  road, 
with  an  average  grade  of  over  four  per  cent  and  scarcely 
twenty  yards  of  straight  track  on  the  entire  line.  The  rails 
cling  to  the  perpendicular  surface  of  the  mountain  like  vines  to 
a  stone  wall.  By  this  tortuous  path  the  train  crawls  along  the 
edge  of  precipices,  reaching  a  height  of  3,000  feet  before  losing 
sight  of  the  sea.  The  view  of  La  Guayra  and  the  Caribbean 
far  below,  of  bottomless  chasm  and  noble  mountain,  is  beyond 
all  word  pictures,  and  is  alone  worth  the  voyage  to  South 
America. 

Caracas,  the  capital,  is  an  old  town.  It  was  founded  by  the 
Spaniards  in  1567  on  the  site  of  an  Indian  village.  No  city  in 
the  New  World  has  a  more  beautiful  situation.  It  lies  3,000 
feet  above  the  sea  in  a  narrow,  ever-verdant  valley,  walled  in 
by  towering,  treeless  mountains.  Its  climate  is  unrivaled — a 
place  of  perpetual  spring.  An  American  who  has  lived  here 
for  ten  years  told  me  that  cold  and  heat  are  alike  unknown. 
The  city  has  had  an  eventful  history.  Since  1797,  when  the 
first  movement  for  independence  was  initiated,  it  has  been  the 
scene  of  many  an  uprising  and  revolution.  In  1811  the  formal 
Declaration  of  Independence  was 

proclaimed   and   in  /TT\  I^1^'  *ree(*  ^y  Simon 

Bolivar,  the  great  /  (AJ  >v  South  American  Lib- 
erator, the  country  /  \  became  a  part  of 
"Great  Colombia"  /  \  In  1830  it  declared  it- 
self an  independent  /  +  \  republic. 


While  nominally 
ing  its  government 
ezuela  is  in  reality 
even  the  Governors 


a  republic,  pattern- 
after  our  own,  Ven- 
an  autocracy,  where 
of  the  thirteen  States 


STATUE    ERECTED   IN    CARACAS    IN    IQII    TO    COMMEMORATE   THE 

CENTENNIAL  OF  THE  DECLARATION   OF  VENEZUELAN 

INDEPENDENCE. 


576 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


are  appointed  by  the  President.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  no 
President  has  ever  actually  come  into  power  through  an  elec- 
tion, and  no  President  has  ever  retired  from  office  except 
through  a  revolution.  There  is,  however,  a  National  Congress 
consisting  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Deputies,  the  former 
elected  by  the  State  Legislatures,  the  latter  by  direct  vote  of 
the  people. 

Since  becoming  a  republic,  Venezuela  has  produced  more 
"trouble"  than  any  other  nation,  both  for  "home  and  foreign 


ARCH   OF   LIBERTY   AND    FEDERATION,    CARACAS,    VENEZUELA. 

consumption."  The  brand  designed  for  domestic  use  is  labeled 
"Revolution ;"  that  for  the  outer  world,  "International  Com- 
plication." If  you  will  look  up  the  word  "revolution"  in  your 
dictionary — you  will  find  that  it  means  "a  going  around."  There 
are  always  enough  revolutions  to  go  around  in  this  country.  It 
has  a  record  of  over  one  hundred.  There  is  a  popular  supetsti- 
tion  that  all  South  American  revolutions  are  inspired  by  men 
claiming,  in  broken  accents,  that  the  United  States  is  their 


VENEZUELA 


577 


VENEZUELAN    SOLDIERS. 


fatherland — men  who  de- 
sire to  sell  nonexplosive 
cartridges  and  rifles  which 
antedate  the  invention  of 
gunpowder  at  exorbitant 
prices.  This  is  a  mistake. 
The  revolutionary  spirit  is 
indigenous  here. 

While  the  constitution  of 
Venezuela  limits  the  presi- 
dential term  to  six  years, 
Guzman  Blanco  managed  to 
hold  his  grip  on  the  affairs 
of  the  nation  for  nineteen. 
His  rule  was  the  heyday  for 
the  speculative  adventurer 
who  came  to  the  country  to  see  what  he  could  devour.  To 
such,  Guzman  Blanco  mortgaged  the  resources  of  the  republic 
to  provide  the  cities  with  plazas  ornamented  with  statues  of 
himself  labeled:  "The  Illustrious  American."  After  his 
dethronement  the  populace  pulled  down  all  these  statues,  an 
act  which  inspired  the  suggestion  from  a  visiting  Yankee  that, 
in  the  interest  of  economy,  all  statues  of  future  military  Presi- 
dents of  Venezuela  should  be  erected  in  full  uniform  but  with 
movable  heads,  to  be  changed  with  each  administration. 

If  Guzman  Blanco  received  some  attention  from  the  foreign 
press,  it  remained  for  Cipriano  Castro  to  inspire  miles  of  space 
in  the  newspapers  of  the  world.  For  nine  years  this  indomit- 
able little  man  held  his  country  under  his  thumb  and  the  foreign 
powers  at  bay.  Every  minute  of  his  long  reign  was  eventful. 
He  collected  quarrels  with  other  nations  as  a  private  individual 
collects  stamps  or  coins.  At  one  time  or  another  he  trod  on  the 
toes  of  nearly  every  civilized  power.  He  insulted  plenipoten- 
tiaries, canceled  concessions  and  flouted  foreign  bondholders. 
With  modern  eight-inch  guns  mounted  on  the  hills  above  La 
Guayra,  he  defied  the  warships  of  three  nations. 

We   cannot   deny   Cipriano    (otherwise   "Slippery   Elm") 
Castro  a  unique  place  in  history.  He  monopolized  the  spot-light 
on  the  international  stage  from  the  hour  he  assumed  a  star  role 
37 


578  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

in  the  cast.  His  rise  was  interesting.  As  a  cattleman,  of  In- 
dian and  Spanish  blood,  in  the  wild  mountainous  region  of 
Tachira,  it  was  his  habit,  with  other  frontiersmen,  to  drive  his 
stock  over  into  Colombia  whenever  the  tax-collector  came 
around.  A  similar  courtesy  was  accorded  Colombian  ranch- 
men in  their  hour  of  need.  But  the  day  of  reckoning  came ! 

The  tax-collectors  of  the  two  republics  united,  and  sup^ 
ported  by  troops,  appeared  simultaneously  on  either  side  of  the 
frontier.  Castro's  cattle  were  seized,  confiscated,  and  his  ranch 
destroyed.  Having  no  other  means  of  livelihood,  he  raised  the 
standard  of  revolt.  His  neighbors  flocked  around  him,  and  at 
the  head  of  this  improvised  army  he  fought  his  way  to  the 
presidency.  Once  in  power,  he  announced  himself  "The  Re- 
storer." He  did  restore  to  Venezuelans  about  all  the  conces- 
sions granted  to  foreigners  by  previous  administrations,  but 
Castro  himself  was  chief  among  these  beneficiaries.  It  was  not 
on  foreigners  alone  that  he  preyed  No  public  utility,  native  or 
otherwise,  escaped  the  "Restoration."  By  monopoly,  forced 
sale  and  heavy  taxation,  the  President  and  his  favorites  ob- 
tained a  "rake-off"  on  every  form  of  industrial  enterprise.  Salt, 
coal,  coffee,  cattle,  sugar,  rum,  gold-mining,  pearl-fisheries, 
matches,  cigarettes,  cigars,  banks  and  railroads  were  all  laid 
under  tribute.  All  business  had  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of 
being  protected.  The  country  was  taxed  to  its  last  breath.  A 
blight  was  cast  on  all  industry  and  commerce. 

But  the  army  was  not  neglected.  It  received  Castro's  first 
attention.  He  found  it  a  rabble  of  assorted  titles  with  no 
specific  duties  and  a  little  "shy"  on  shoes.  Before  his  time  it 
was  no  uncommon  sight  to  see  ragged  soldiers  begging  food. 
The  story  is  told  of  a  Venezuelan  general  of  those  days,  who 
ordered  an  advance  for  an  attack  on  a  village.  Time  passed, 
but  no  company  appeared.  Finally  a  scared  messenger  ar- 
rived. 

"Why  have  the  soldiers  not  obeyed  my  orders  ?"  roared  the 
General. 

"They  want  to,  your  excellency,"  stammered  the  messenger, 
"but  there  are  two  drunken  Americans  down  the  road  and  they 
won't  let  the  company  pass !" 

Castro  worked  wonders  with  the  native  troops.     He  estab- 


VENEZUELA 


579 


lished  an  up-to-date  military  academy  and  made  the  soldiers 
loyal  by  paying  what  he  promised.  It  is  this  strong  organiza- 
tion of  9,000  men  which  blindly  supports  his  successor  today. 

In  1908  Castro  made  his  memorable  trip  to  Europe  to 
secure  surgical  aid.  The  leading  men  of  the  country  then  pre- 
vailed on  Acting  Executive  Gomez  to  announce  that  Castro 
would  not'be  permitted  to  return.  Cipriano  Castro  had  always 
likened  himself  to  Napoleon,  and  surely  when  he  attempted  to 
return  from  Europe  he  received  the  international  attention  ac- 
corded only  to  the  "Little  Corporal."  Napoleon  was  banished 
to  St.  Helena  Castro,  baffled  in  his  attempts  to  land  on  British 
or  French  possessions  in  the  West  Indies,  was  forced  into  exile 
on  the  Canaries.  But  where  is  he  today? 

This  question  is  being  asked  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  No 
one  seems  able  to  answer.  Every  new  rumor  of  his  where- 
abouts receives  headlines  in  the  press.  The  report  is  current 
that  he  has  managed,  through  a  disguise,  to  reach  the  fastness 
of  his  former  mountain  home  where  he  hopes  again  to  rally 
the  "Andinos"  for  battle  with  the  Government  forces.  This 
rumor  receives  credence  in  the  cafes  of  Caracas.  Will  the 
former  President  win  the 
army  to  his  standard  of 
revolt?  "Quien  sabe!" 
(Who  knows!)  as  they 
say  down  there. 

President  Gomez  has 
shown  wisdom  in  retain- 
ing powerful  military 
chiefs  in  his  Cabinet, 
among  them  Alcantara,  a 
graduate  of  West  Point, 
who  was  formerly  his 
enemy.  Matos,  who  led 
the  unsuccessful  revolu- 
tion against  Castro,  is  his 
Minister  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs. Gomez  has  already 
smoothed  out  many  tan- 
gles. Venezuela  has  once 

GENERAL  JUAN  VINCENTE  GOMEZ, 
PRESIDENT  OF  VENEZUELA. 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


more  entered  the  circle  of  civilized  nations  from  which  Castro 
practically  excommunicated  her.  The  problems  confronting 
the  President  are  tremendous.  Politically  he  was  identified 
with  the  Castro  ring  and  was  the  beneficiary  of  one  of  the 
most  popular  executive  grafts — the  cattle  monopoly.  He  is 
untraveled  and  unread,  but  has  considerable  native  shrewdness. 
Unquestionably  he  would  not  have  been  the  popular  choice  for 
the  presidency  through  election.  What  the  country  needs  is 
peace,  peace  and  "a  square  deal.''  We  are  told  that  "Every- 
thing comes  to  him  who  waits."  "Here's  hoping!"  for  the 
Venezuelans. 

I  stopped  at  the  Hotel  Klindt  which  faces  the  Plaza  Bolivar, 
the  main  square  of  the  city.  An  equestrian  statue  of  the  be- 
loved Liberator  (Bolivar)  occupies  the  center  of  the  plaza. 
There  are  some  twelve  or  fourteen  such  attractive  little  parks 
in  the  city  and  in  the  center  of  nearly  every  one  of  them  is  a 


STATUE  OF   SIMON    BOLIVAR   IN    CARACAS,   VENEZUELA. 


VENEZUELA 


costly  statue  of  bronze  or 
marble  erected  in  honor  of 
some  popular  hero  or  states- 


man. 


There  is  a  "Plaza  Wash- 
ington" with  a  statue  of 
George  Washington,  who 
was  a  friend  of  the  early 
Venezuelan  patriots.  Even 
the  street  urchins  who  play 
in  this  square  know  George 
Washington's  history,  but 
how  many  schoolboys  in  the 
States  can  tell  you  anything 
of  Simon  Bolivar?  The 
Plaza  Bolivar  is  the  very 
heart  of  Caracas.  It  is 
paved  with  mosaic  tiles  and 
illuminated  by  festoons  of 
electric  lights.  Here,  on  sev- 
eral evenings  each  week, 
there  are  concerts,  the  four 
military  bands  alternating. 
On  the  benches  under  its 
shade  trees  old  dames  gossip  and  politicians  plot. 

There  are  a  number  of  fine  buildings  in  the  city.  The 
Federal  capitol,  erected  in  Guzman  Blanco's  day,  is  large  and 
showy.  In  its  stateroom  are  portraits  of  fierce  old  generals  who 
fought  in  the  battles  for  independence.  Painted  on  the  dome  of 
this  room  is  an  immense  panorama  of  the  Battle  of  Carabobo, 
the  decisive  victory  over  the  Spaniards.  The  President's  town 
house  is  called  "Mira  Flores."  Crespo  and  Castro  lived  there 
before  him.  His  official  residence  is  the  "Casa  Amarilla" 
(Yellow  House)  facing  the  Plaza  Bolivar. 

The  Caraquenians  are  music  lovers  and  the  city  boasts  a 
Grand  Opera  House,  quite  modern  and  pretentious  for  its  pop- 
ulation of  75,000.  All  classes  manage  somehow  to  attend  the 
opera.  The  cochero  who  drove  me  about  town  whistled  classic 


STATUE  OF  GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

CARACAS,  VENEZUELA. 
(SIDE  VIEW.) 


582 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


airs.  There  are  a  Na- 
tional Theater,  a  Na- 
t  i  o  n  a  1  University,  nu- 
merous modern  Govern- 
ment buildings,  many 
handsome  churches,  and 
a  Pantheon,  where  im- 
mortal heroes  lie  in  state 
— Bolivar's  tomb  in  the 
place  of  honor,  Miranda 
at  his  right. 

There  is  a  wonderful 
painting  in  the  National 
Museum  entitled  "Mi- 
randa in  Prison."  It 
depicts  the  noble  patriot, 
whom  our  Washington 
loved,  in  exile  in  Spain, 
where  he  died.  It  is  from 
the  brush  of  Arturo 
Michelena,  Venezuela's 
great  artist,  who  died  at 
the  tragically  early  age 
of  thirty.  Michelena's 
work  has  graced  that 
artist's  "Hall  of  Fame," 
the  Paris  Salon.  At  the 
time  of  his  death,  he  was  " 
at  work  on  his  master- 
piece, "The  Last  Sup- 
per," which  now  hangs, 
in  an  uncompleted  state, 
in  the  Cathedral.  Artists 
from  many  parts  of  the 
world  have  made  a  pil- 
grimage to  this  picture. 
Even  unfinished,  i  t  i  s 
said  to  rank  with,  and 
perhaps  surpass,  any 


THE  MUNICIPAL  THEATER,  CARACAS. 


THE  NATIONAL  OPERA  HOUSE,  CARACAS. 


PUBLIC  CARRIAGES  AND  "CABBIES/'   CARACAS. 


A  MARKET  DAY  IN   CARACAS. 
f 


VENEZUELA 


585 


STATUE  TO  HEROES  OF  THE  INDEPENDENCE, 
CARACAS,  VENEZUELA. 

other  conception  of  the  subject.  Michelena  was  born  in  Cara- 
cas, and  another  native  of  the  capital,  "Tito"  Salao,  now  gives 
promise  of  artistic  fame.  Theresa  Carrefio,  the  noted  pianist, 
is  also  a  Venezuelan. 

Because  of  its  great  natural  beauty,  Caracas  would  seem  to 
be  the  rightful  home  of  artists.  There  is  not  an  inartistic 
touch  in  the  town.  The  streets  and  sidewalks  are  narrow,  in 
Spanish  fashion,  an  electric  car,  a  carriage  and  four  pedestrians 
completely  filling  the  space  from  wall  to  wall.  The  electric 
tramway  is  owned  by  British  capital.  The  carriages  are  vic- 
torias, so  popular  throughout  South  America,  and  the  550  of 


586 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


them  in  the  city  are  of  home  manufacture.  With  many  cement- 
paved  streets,  well-laid  sidewalks  and  uniformly-built  houses, 
freshly  painted,  the  whole  has  a  decidedly  neat  appearance. 
The  practical  American  notes,  however,  that  the  sewerage  sys- 
tem is  not  all  it  might  be.  Plans  for  sanitation  are  now  under 
way. 

The  suburb  of  Paraiso  is  modern  and  most  attractive.  Here 
coquettish  chalets,  surrounded  by  luxurious  gardens,  line  either 
side  of  wide,  well-shaded  streets.  Here  is  the  fine  new  Boule- 


A  VENEZUELAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE,   NEAR  PARAISO. 

vard  Paraiso  built  recently  by  President  Gomez,  where  the 
Sunday  afternoon  corso  is  a  social  event.  On  this  drive  I  met 
several  automobiles.  There  are  twenty  in  town  and  an  auto- 
mobile club  is  soon  to  be  formed.  The  President  owns  two 
French  motor  cars,  but  is  often  seen  in  a  victoria  not  unlike  the 
other  549,  a  postilion  alone  announcing  the  coming  of  the  Chief 
Executive. 

The  Venezuelans  are  exceedingly  fond  of  sport.     On  Sun- 


VENEZUELA 


58- 


BULL-FIGHT  IN   CARACAS. 

day  there  are  horse  races  at  the  Paraiso  track  and  a  bull-tight  in 
town  with  toreadors  from  Spain.  The  President  patronizes 
the  cock-fight,  so  it  is  popular  at  present.  In  a  village  near  the 
capital,  I  saw  the  native  sport,  coleada,  where  a  bull  was  liber- 
ated in  the  main  street.  Horsemen,  approaching  at  full  speed, 
endeavored  to  throw  the  animal  by  giving  its  tail  a  dexterous 
twist.  To  throw  the  bull  at  the  feet  of  his  lady-fair  was  the 
great  ambition  of  each  contestant. 

The  small  boys  play  baseball  here  in  true  American  style. 
Many  of  them  throng  the  streets  from  dawn  till  long  after  dark 
selling  lottery  tickets.  The  lottery  is  the  most  popular  insti- 
tution of  the  country.  For  the  three  weekly  drawings,  $30,000 
worth  of  tickets  are  issued,  the  Government  receiving  a  ten  per 
cent  commission.  Strange  to  say,  there  is  still  enough  spare 
cash  for  another  heavy  play  on  the  Royal  Madrid  Lottery  of 
Spain. 

From  twelve  until  two  o'clock,  about  everything  in  town 
closes.  It  is  siesta  time.  The  manana  (tomorrow)  habit  is 
here  also.  A  funeral  was  passing  and  a  Yankee  in  town 
turned  to  a  bystander  and  asked  who  was  dead. 


5<S8 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


"Quien  sabe!"  answered  the  native,  with  a  shrug  of  the 
shoulders. 

"So  Quien  Sabe  is  dead,  is  he  ?"  said  the  American.  "Well, 
I  wish  to  Heaven  Mariana  would  die,  too !" 


PATIO  OF  PRESIDENT'S  OFFICIAL  RESIDENCE,  CARACAS. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
CURIOUS  SIGHTS  AND  FACTS. 

I  DID  not  return  to  the  coast  via  the  La  Guayra-Caracas 
Railway.  I  had  heard  so  much  of  the  trip  from  Caracas 
to  Puerto  Cabello  by  way  of  Valencia,  that  I  decided  to  go  that 
way.  The  two  most  important  ports  on  the  Caribbean  are  La 
Guayra  and  Puerto  Cabello.  From  both  of  these  cities  rail- 
ways pass  to  the  interior,  the  one  to  Caracas,  the  other  to 
Valencia.  Between  these  two  points,  and  connecting  them,  a 
third  railway  has  been  built,  tapping  a  most  productive  district. 
This  interior  line,  one  hundred  and  twelve  miles  in  length,  is 
the  road  over  which  Germany  and  Venezuela  had  such  a  con 
troversy  some  years  ago,  ending  in  the  bombardment  of  Puerto 
Cabello  by  German  warships. 

Krupp,  the  famous  gunmaker,  secured  a  most  favorable 
concession  for  the  building  of  this  road.  The  concession  car- 
ried with  it  a  Government  guarantee  of  seven  per  cent  on  its 
securities.  Naturally  the  Germans  did  not  stint  on  the  expense 
account.  They  made  it  an  exhibition  road  in  every  particular. 
To  secure  a  two  per  cent  grade  in  this  mountainous  country, 
two  hundred  and  twelve  viaducts  and  bridges  were  constructed, 
one  of  the  bridges  being  over  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
length.  Then  there  are  the  tunnels,  a  whole  flock  of  them 
(eighty-six  to  be  exact),  with  a  total  length  of  three  and  a  half 
miles.  The  station  houses  are  models.  In  fact  this  "exhibit" 
shows  about  every  product  of  German  manufacture  which  it 
was  possible  to  crowd  in.  It  is  "claimed  by  some"  that  they 
were  intended  as  permanent  exposition  buildings. 

Well,  when  the  smoke  had  cleared  away  and  the  line  was 
opened  in  1894,  after  six  years'  work,  $15,000,000  had  been 
spent — $135,000  per  mile  for  a  single  track  line,  putting  it  in  the 
same  class  with  the  famous  Oroya  Road  in  Peru,  which  I 
described  in  my  chapters  on  Peru.  Since  the  road  was  prac- 

589 


VENEZUELA  591 

tically  "made  in  Germany"  (Venezuela  supplying  the  site),  the 
Kaiser  sent  the  man-of-war  Stein  over  that  the  officers  might 
participate  in  the  glorious  opening  festivities.  Of  course  the 
road  could  not  pay  interest  on  such  an  investment.  The  Gov- 
ernment was  called  upon  to  "settle  up"  for  back  interest.  It 
demurred,  claiming  that  altogether  too  much  had  been  poured 
in.  Finally  Germany  got  both  the  money  and  the  "exhibit." 
When  I  boarded  the  train  at  Caracas,  I  noted  that  this  road  is  a 
different  gauge  from  the  La  Guayra-Caracas  Railway,  so  all 
goods  have  to  be  transshipped  at  the  capital.  Quite  a  handicap ! 

Both  the  ticket  agent  and  the  conductor  asked  me  to  write 
my  name  in  their  memorandum  books.  The  same  proceeding 
had  been  gone  through  when  I  came  up  to  Caracas.  I  wondered 
why.  Later  I  learned  that  a  list  of  all  passengers  traveling  by 
rail,  steamer  or  canoe,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Venezuela,  is 
published  daily  in  the  papers.  It  is  easy,  if  you  have  time,  to 
keep  track  of  your  friends — and  your  creditors.  Another  novel 
feature  of  travel  here  is  the  method  by  which  people  are  pro- 
tected against  missing  trains.  All  clocks  at  railway  stations  are 
set  five  minutes  behind  city  time  and  as  the  trains  follow 
railroad  time,  passengers  have  five  minutes'  grace  to  argue 
down  the  ever-exorbitant  coachmen. 

We  pulled  out  of  Caracas  at  seven-thirty  in  the  morning,  on 
a  six-hour  ride  to  Valencia.  My  ticket  cost  nine  dollars — eight 
cents  a  mile.  The  ride  up  from  La  Guayra  costs  eleven  cents  a 
mile,  so  you  can  see  that  traveling  is  a  luxury  here.  We 
climbed  out  of  the  Caracas  Valley,  surrounded  by  mountains 
9,000  feet  high,  and  followed  the  Guaire  River  into  a  well- 
cultivated  country  where  sugar-cane,  corn  and  a  great  variety  of 
garden-truck  are  cultivated  for  the  city  ma'rket. 

In  an  hour  we  reached  Los  Teques,  the  high  point  on  the 
line,  being  3,800  feet  above  sea  level.  Its  delicious  climate  has 
made  it  a  popular  resort.  The  Venezuelans  call  it  "the  Swit- 
zerland of  America."  This  is  the  famous  coffee  section.  The 
quality  of  "Los  Teques"  brings  a  top  price.  Coffee  is  the  great 
staple  of  the  country.  Over  200,000  acres  are  given  over  to  its 
cultivation.  The  crop  of  1910  was  valued  at  over  $8,000,000, 
and  the  1911  crop  estimated  at  $12,000,000.  A  wide  stretch 
of  country  fulfils  all  conditions  desired  by  the  experienced 


VENEZUELA  593 

planter— altitudes  from  2,000  to  8,000  feet ;  a  dark,  loamy  soil, 
and  frequent  mists.  A  fair  average  crop  is  about  700  pounds 
to  the  acre  and  as  prices  at  present  are  very  good,  a  coffee 
estate,  convenient  to  market,  is  the  best  investment  in  the 
country. 

It  is  a  picturesque  sight  on  country  roads — the  long  line  of 
patient  little  burros  laden  with  bags  of  coffee,  their  cargo  pro- 
tected by  a  covering  of  rawhide.  As  many  as  twenty  of  the 
little  beasts  are  strung  together  in  single  file,  their  owner, 
decked  in  the  popular  brown  plush  hat,  astride  the  leader.  The 
burros  run  a  real  competition  with  the  railroads,  and  in  the 
great  "unrailed"  section  have  it  all  their  own  way.  They  sell 
as  low  as  three  dollars,  but  the  muy  buenos  (very  best)  bring 
from  eight  to  ten.  Occasionally  I  saw  ox-carts,  the  animals 
yoked  by  the  horns  in  Spanish  fashion,  not  by  the  more  humane 
neck  yoke  as  in  Brazil. 

From  Los  Teques  we  rolled  down  grade  to  Valencia  through 
a  magnificent  country,  bridging  seventy-three  chasms,  with  im- 
pressive views  at  every  turn — mountains  stacked  chain  on 
chain.  Now  there  were  occasional  cacao  estates.  The  annual 
crop  of  these  chocolate  beans  is  worth  about  $3,500,000.  The 
quality  is  excellent.  Some  chocolate  manufacturers  feature 
the  name  "Venezuela"  in  advertising  their  brands.  Chocolate 
is  served  to  perfection  in  the  native  hotels.  I  asked  a  waiter 
how  they  make  it  and  it  seems  they  allow  it  to  come  to  a  boil 
three  times,  then  add  a  spoonful  of  powdered  corn  to  make  it 
smooth.  It's  "smooth,"  all  right ! 

We  stopped  at  La  Victoria,  where  Castro  had  his  favorite 
country  place.  He  improved  the  old  town,  founded  in  1593, 
with  public  buildings  and  large  military  barracks.  There  are 
sugar  plantations  here  and  vegetable  gardens  galore.  I  saw 
enough  garlic  and  onions  to  feed  all  the  Spaniards  in  the  world ! 
Not  far  from  here  Castro  defeated  the  revolutionary  forces  led 
by  Matos.  The  slaughter  was  terrific.  A  Venezuelan  travel- 
ing with  me  said  that  he  thought  this  battle  the  final  lesson,  that 
with  it  the  scourge  of  lead-poisoning,  in  this  frightful  form, 
passed  from  the  land.  God  grant  it ! 

We   came   to   the    famous   plantation — Ingenio    Bolivar— 
where  Ricaurte  gave  his  life  in  the  cause  of  independence.     In 
38 


594 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


1911,  during  her  centenary  celebration,  the  republic  unveiled  a 
statue  here  in  memory  of  this  hero.  Ricaurte's  story  should 
be  featured  in  our  school  books.  He  and  his  followers  were 
surrounded  by  thousands  of  Spaniards.  They  took  refuge  in  a 
sugar  house  where  a  stack  of  powder  was  stored.  Realizing 
that  resistance  was  useless,  Ricaurte  commanded  his  compan- 
ions to  make  their  escape  under  cover  of  darkness.  When  a 
regiment  attacked  the  building  at  dawn,  he  discharged  his  re- 
volver into  a  barrel'of  powder,  giving  his  own  life  to  kill  hun- 
dreds of  the  enemy — one  of  the  noblest  acts  in  history ! 

Back  from  the  railroad  I  saw  much  uncultivated  land,  only 
awaiting  settlers  to  bloom  forth  with  a  great  variety  of  pro- 
ducts. The  average  density  of  the  population  here  is  less  than 
seven  per  square  mile.  In  the  States  it  is  over  thirty ;  in  the 
Republic  of  Salvador,  two  hundred  and  forty.  Room  for  all 
comers  here ! 

At  Cagua  I  saw  a  giant  samdn  tree  measuring  thirty-five 
feet  in  circumference.  Its  historic  branches  sheltered  such 
illustrious  men  as  Bolivar  and  Humboldt.  Cagua  is  -important 
as  the  connecting  point  for  the  car  roads  and  trails  from  the 


A  NATIVE  WHERE  THE  POPULATION  IS  ONLY  SEVEN  PER 
SQUARE  MILE. 


VENEZUELA 


595 


llanos,  or  grazing  lands,  back  in  the  interior.  All  the  cattle  are 
driven  here  for  shipment. 

From  the  earliest  days  of  Spanish  conquest  Venezuela  has 
been  famed  as  a  cattle  land.  At  the  time  of  their  War  of 
Independence  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  3,000,000  head 
of  cattle  in  the  country.  The  industry  has  never  since  been  as 
flourishing.  The  natural  grazing  lands  comprise  about  170,- 
000,000  acres.  In  the  past,  this  industry  has  been  greatly 
handicapped  by  Government  restriction,  monopoly  and  taxation. 
Under  favorable  conditions  the  llanos  should  produce  cattle 
ready  for  slaughter  at  a  cost  not  to  exceed  $2.50  a  head. 

Three  years  ago  an  English  company  secured  a  twenty-five- 
year  concession,  free  from  taxation,  for  shipping  refrigerated 
meat.  An  old  brewery  at  Puerto  Cabello  was  remodeled  for 
the  purpose  and  the  Royal  Mail  steamers  have  been  carrying 
the  product  to  England.  The  present  plant  has  a  capacity  of 
3,000  beeves  a  month,  but  has  not  reached  this  figure  because 
of  a  scarcity  of  cattle.  Recently  a  policy  of  expansion  was 
adopted,  and  the  company  has  brought  out  experienced  Scotch 
breeders  and  high-class  stock,  is  sinking  wells  to  supply  the 
cattle  with  water  during  the  dry  season  (May  to  October), 
and  sowing  extensive  pasture  lands  with  alfalfa.  Although 
refrigeration  is  monopolized  by  this  one  company  and  live 


HOME  OF  PRESIDENT  GOMEZ  IN  MARACAY,  VENEZUELA. 


596  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

export  by  President  Gomez,  the  industry  should  reach  giant 
proportions  within  a  few  years.  We  can  look  to  Venezuela  to 
supply  a  good  share  of  the  beefsteaks  of  the  future  to  the 
hungry  of  the  world.  Last  year  $1,000,000  worth  of  hides 
were  exported  and  $170,000  worth  of  horns. 

We  stopped  for  a  few  moments  at  Maracay,  interesting  as 
the  home  of  President  Gomez,  who  spends  much  time  here  in 
his  big  white  house,  the  real  "White  House"  of  the  country. 
Many  important  men  have  built  homes  here,  and  the  sleepy 
little  town  has  become  a  dot  on  the  map.  From  here  on  to 
Valencia  is  the  most  populous  portion  of  the  country,  the  very 
heart  of  the  agricultural  section.  We  skirted  a  blue  expanse 
of  water,  and  I  recalled  the  strange  lake  of  which  I  had  read- 
Lake  Valencia,  which  the  natives  call  Tacariqua.  It  not  only 
changes  its  level  mysteriously,  but  has  in  the  past  changed  an 
outlet  into  an  inlet  and  a  tributary  into  an  outlet.  It  seems  en- 
circled by  mountains,  yet  its  two  western  outlets  at  times  flow 
in  opposite  directions — one  to  the  Caribbean  and  the  other  to 
the  Orinoco.  The  brackish  water  contains  few  fish,  but  I  saw 
an  army  of  alligators  which  I'm  told  are  not  alligators,  at  all, 
but  Old  World  crocodiles.  The  lake  is  twenty  miles  long, 
twelve  miles  wide  and  has  over  twenty  verdant  islands.  Little 
steamers  navigate  it. 

Six  miles  from  the  lake  is  the  city  of  Valencia  with  40,000 
people,  the  old  capital  of  the  republic.  And  oh !  but  they  are 
jealous  of  Caracas!  We  were  here  only  thirty  minutes  as  we 
changed  cars  to  the  English  line  for  Puerto  Cabello — fare, 
$2.50;  distance,  thirty- four  miles.  This  part  of  the  trip  was 
uninteresting,  but  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  pick  up  acquaintance 
with  a  fellow  passenger,  an  Englishman  who  has  lived  twelve 
years  in  the  country  and  traveled  all  over  it.  He  said  that 
everything  was  suffering  from  the  drought,  thousands  of  goats 
being  dead  in  the  Coro  section,  just  to  the  west.  The  raising 
of  goats,  it  seems,  is  an  important  industry  over  there,  and 
they  sent  out  $400,000  worth  of  skins  last  year.  He  thought 
that  Castro's  scheme  of  assisting  industries  by  placing  prohib- 
itive duties  on  certain  foreign  articles  had  worked  out  all  right 
— shoes,  for  instance.  They  are  all  made  in  the  country  now, 
factories  being  everywhere.  Native  hides  and  leathers,  home 


VENEZUELA  597 

tanned,  are  utilized.  He  said  the  shoes  were  well  made — wore 
them  himself. 

While  we  chatted  he  handed  me  a  cigar  made  in  the  coun- 
try. I  was  surprised  at  its  quality.  The  tobacco  was  grown 
near  Puerto  Cabello,  and  an  even  better  leaf  comes  from  Coro 
and  other  points.  This  cigar  sells  for  five  cents,  and  the  local- 
grown  filler  and  wrapper  compare  favorably  with  the  Porto 
Rican.  There  is  much  unimproved  land  in  the  country  favor- 
able to  tobacco  cultivation,  but  only  $40,000  worth  of  leaf  was 
exported  last  year.  The  making  of  cigarettes  is  now  the  mon- 
opoly of  a  large  national  company.  Formerly  a  lot  of  little 
factories  were  scattered  about,  employing  15,000  people.  Castro 
closed  them  up,  which  caused  a  merry  row  and  made  him  more 
enemies  than  any  other  one  act.  Every  man  and  boy  here 
smokes  cigarettes.  It  took  $70,000  worth  of  imported  rice 
paper  last  year  to  roll  the  first-class  ones. 

"Any  chewing  tobacco  used  here?"  I  asked  the  Britisher. 

"Yes,  there  are  several  factories  kept  busy  turning  it  out. 
The  Indians  over  in  the  State  of  Merida  make  their  own  chew- 
ing tobacco  by  boiling  the  leaf  into  a  paste." 

"Any  fiber  plants  here?" 

"Yes,  an  American  brought  down  a  machine  not  long  ago  to 
prepare  fiber  for  market.  He's  over  in  the  Coro  district,  but  I 
hear  he's  stuck  for  want  of  water  for  the  boiler.  The  drought 
is  playing  havoc  over  there." 

My  companion  seemed  to  think  the  outlook  fairly  bright  for 
the  country,  but  "The  present  Government  is  patterned  much 
after  the  last,"  he  said.  "There's  little  change  in  operation. 
There  is  no  freedom  of  the  press ;  the  papers  being  filled  with 
laudatory  notices  of  the  Government  and  of  people  in  power. 
When  the  President's  term  of  office  expires,  he'll  appoint  his 
Minister  of  Finance,  Antonio  Pimentel,  to  take  his  place  for 
four  years  until  he  can  take  hold  again." 

We  had  now  reached  Puerto  Cabello.  The  place  owes  its 
importance  to  its  harbor,  "one  of  the  finest  in  the  world,"  if 
you  can  rely  on  what  the  natives  say.  The  old  Spaniards 
named  it  Cabello  (hair),  meaning  that,  in  its  placid  waters,  the 
ship  could  be  held  by  a  hair.  They  built  a  fort  on  the  point 
to  resist  the  pirates.  Today  the  fort,  remodeled,  has  eight- 


VENEZUELA  599 

inch  Creusot  guns  which  Castro  bought.  He  made  this  a 
creditable  port  of  entry  by  dredging  the  harbor  and  building 
docks,  wharves,  a  navy  yard  and  a  modern  dry  dock. 

I  had  heard  of  the  ''Hotel  of  the  Baths"  in  Puerto  Cabello 
and  had  a  vision  of  a  real  bathtub  and  maybe  hot  water !  The 
motheaten  old  building  on  the  shore  did  not  look  promising. 

"I  want  room  and  bath,"  I  announced  in  my  best  Spanish. 

"Si,  senor,  perfectamente." 

The  bath  was  there,  all  right.  It  was  right  by  the  bed.  It 
was,  in  fact,  twice  as  large  as  the  bedroom  itself,  a  bit  of  the 
sea  reached  from  it  by  a  flight  of  stone  steps  and  walled  off 
from  the  next  fellow's  bathroom.  The  surf  beat  into  my  room 
all  night.  It  was  a  case  of  being  "Rocked  in  the  Cradle  of  the 
Deep." 

I  could  not  resist  taking  a  trip  over  to  Maracaibo,  the  im- 
portant city  at  the  western  end  of  Venezuela.  I  boarded  the 
little  steamer,  Manzannares,  of  only  1,500  tons,  at  Puerto 
Cabello,  and  we  made  the  run  over  in  a  little  under  twelve 
hours.  The  steamer  belongs  to  a  new  company  (Venezuelan) 
that  paid  twenty^eight  per  cent  dividends  in  1911.  Formerly 
the  only  way  to  reach  Maracaibo  was  via  the  Dutch  island  of 
Curasao.  The  town,  which  has  about  40,000  inhabitants,  is 
situated  just  inside  the  great  marine  inlet  known  as  Lake 
Maracaibo,  the  largest  gulf  of  this  part  of  the  world.  It  is 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long  and  sixty  miles  wide,  with 
depth  sufficient  to  float  the  largest  ocean  steamers.  The  en- 
trance, however,  is  so  obstructed  by  sandbars  that  only  light- 
draft  vessels  can  enter,  so  commerce  is  mostly  carried  on  by 
little  "tubs"  which  transship  their  cargo  at  Curagao. 

A  steamer  of  the  "Red  D"  line,  flying  the  American  flag, 
was  at  the  dock  when  we  arrived.  It  was  loading  a  full  cargo 
of  coffee.  Besides  being  the  natural  port  for  a  vast  and  pro- 
ductive region  in  western  Venezuela,  Maracaibo  is  also  the 
most  available  outlet  for  a  large  portion  of  eastern  Colombia, 
so  probably  half  of  the  coffee  known  in  our  markets  as  "Mara- 
caibo" is  really  a  Colombian  product.  Immense  bales  of  deer- 
skin were  being  loaded  on  the  boat,  and  I  found  that  deer 
abound  in  the  country  back  of  the  lake — $60,000  worth  being 
shipped  out  in  1911.  Good  country  for  the  sportsman! 


6oo  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Maracaibo  has  a  bad  name  abroad.  One  writer  calls  it 
"the  graveyard  of  earthly  hopes  and  fears."  There  is  fever 
here,  and  with  an  average  temperature  of  eighty  in  an  ever- 
humid  land,  we  may  well  call  it  "a  hot  town."  A  former 
American  consul  "held  the  job"  here  for  thirty  years.  The 
story  is  told  that  his  successor  was  appointed  and  became  his 
guest 'on  arriving.  Discovering  a  nice  metallic  coffin  in  the 
closet  of  his  bedroom,  the  new  arrival  inquired  regarding  it 
next  morning.  The  consul  was  profuse  in  his  apologies,  and 
explained  that  the  fever  season  was  just  setting  in  and  it  was 
the  custom  to  be  ready  for  emergencies.  The  new  appointee 
took  the  next  boat  back  to  New  York. 

In  looking  over  a  Maracaibo  paper,  I  saw  that  every  article 
received  by  merchants  through  the  custom  house  was  listed. 
All  over  the  country  dailies  publish  such  lists,  it  seems.  No 
chance  here  of  advertising  "A  Brand  New  Stock  of  Parasols" 
unless  you  can  "deliver  the  goods." 

Maracaibo,  like  La  Guayra,  has  its  leper  hospital,  and  here 
they  are  planning  an  extension ! 

There  are  immense  deposits  of  asphalt  near  the  lake  and  an 
American  company  spent  considerable  money  preparing  to 
develop  the  industry,  under  the  impression  that  its  concession 
permitted  it  to  ship  out  without  export  duty.  The  company 
tried  it,  but  it  did  not  "go."  Then  Critchfield,  one  of  the 
owners,  got  our  State  Department  to  intervene.  Finally  the 
Government  bought  out  the  company. 

From  Maracaibo  I  sailed  for  a  thousand  miles  to  the  east 
along  the  Venezuelan  coast,  stopping  at  Margarita,  the  famous 
pearl  island.  These  pearl  fisheries  date  back  to  pre-Columbian* 
times.  The  Indian  women  seen  by  the  first  explorers  were 
adorned  with  necklaces  and  bracelets  of  pearls.  At  the  island 
of  Cubagua,  near  Margarita,  they  found  the  fisheries  in  opera- 
tion. Here,  on  the  almost  submerged  isle,  they  founded  one 
of  the  first  colonies  of  the  New  World.  Sheds  were  erected, 
wood  and  water  brought  from  the  mainland,  and  the  natives 
put  to  work  in  earnest  bringing  up  the  pearl  oysters.  Here  a 
city  rose  with  costly  churches — a  city  built  on  pearls. 

In  1527  Charles  V.  granted  it  a  royal  charter,  New  Cadiz 
it  was  called.  The  poor  Indians,  who  had  been  so  ready  to 


602  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

assist  the  strange  newcomers,  were  reduced  to  slavery.  New 
Cadiz  was  the  mart  not  only  for  pearls,  but  for  human  beings. 
After  fifty  years  of  infamous  prosperity,  a  hurricane  one  day 
swept  Cubagua.  The  island  was  submerged,  to  reappear  in  its 
primitive  state. 

Margarita  had  better  luck.  Up  to  a  few  years  ago  two 
thousand  men  found  employment  here  in  the  pearl  trade  and 
the  annual  output  was  valued  at  $900,000  a  year.  The  methods 
were  so  primitive  that  immense  numbers  of  oysters  were  sacri- 
ficed. In  1911  the  export  fell  to  $80,000.  A  French  company 
has  now  secured  the  exclusive  concession,  giving  the  Govern- 
ment ten  per  cent  royalty,  and  is  introducing  modern  diving 
apparatus,  displacing  the  heavy  metallic  scoops  dragged  on  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  and  drawn  to  the  surface  by  a  clumsy  hand 
windlass.  I  found  the  natives  of  the  island  busily  engaged  in 
fishing  for  redsnappers  and  Spanish  mackerel — quite  a  come 
down  from  pearls ! 

My  next  stop  was  'way  around  in  the  Orinoco  delta,  where 
our  little  vessel  docked  at  the  village  of  Guanaco,  the  shipping 
point  of  the  asphalt  from  the  famous  Venezuelan  Pitch  Lake. 
I  hopped  aboard  the  little  narrow-gauge  train  for  a  trip  out  to 
the  lake  while  my  ship  unloaded  her  cargo.  For  five  miles  the 
little  toy  rails  zigzagged  their  uneven  way  through  the  jungle. 
At  the  end,  the  strange  lake  appeared  as  a  plain  between  low 
swamps  and  foothills.  It  covers  over  1,000  acres  and  from  it 
is  taken  25,000  tons  of  asphalt  annually  for  shipment  to  the 
United  States.  Negroes  are  employed  in  the  mining,  which 
consists  of  loosening  up  the  pitch  with  picks  and  dumping  it 
into  the  endless  chain  of  carriers  which  bring  it  to  the  big  vats 
for  boiling.  The  boiling  frees  it  from  foreign  matter.  On 
reaching  its  destination  in  the  States,  the  pitch  is  again  "mined" 
with  picks  from  the  steamer's  hold. 

I  have  called  the  deposit  at  Guanaco  "the  Pitch  Lake,"  but  it 
is  really  more  of  a  swamp,  short  grass  and  clumps  of  ferns 
alternating  with  the  pitch  bubbles.  I  walked  over  a  portion  of 
it,  but  in  some  places  my  feet  sank  when  I  lingered.  It  was 
better  to  keep  on  the  move.  At  one  end  of  the  swamp  is  "the 
Mother  of  the  Lake,"  where  the  matter  is  always  soft  and 
where  no  vegetation  grows.  There  is  one  oasis  called  "Parrot 


Hfe 


i 


604  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Island,"  guarded  on  all  sides  by  quaking  pitch,  where  hun- 
dreds of  green  "pollies"  roost  at  night,  flying  off  to  the  feeding 
grounds  at  dawn. 

The  New  York  and  Bermudez  Company,  which  works  this 
deposit,  has  built  a  modern  plant  with  comfortable  quarters  for 
its  employes.  The  manager  is  of  the  opinion  that  asphaltum, 
made  from  our  mineral  oils  in.  the  States,  will  not  interfere 
with  the  sale  of  the  Venezuelan  product,  which  is  of  a  different 
quality.  Its  most  common  use  is  for  paving,  but  it  is  also  used 
for  roofing,  waterproofing,  making  varnish,  covering  electric 
cables,  lining  cold-storage  plants,  corking  wooden  ships,  and  in 
the  manufacture  of  shoe  blacking. 

The  Caribbean  Oil  Company,  a  relative  of  the  New  York 
and  Bermudez  Company,  has  recently  secured  a  concession  to 
drill  for  oil  on  200,000  square  miles  of  Venezuelan  territory. 
A  crew  of  expert  drillers  had  just  arrived  at  Guanaco  at  the 
time  of  my  visit.  Large  quantities  of  oil  are  now  being  shipped 
from  the  Island  of  Trinidad,  just  across  the  Gulf  of  Paria, 
..where  there  is  also  a  Pitch  Lake,  so  I  see  no  reason  why  the 
Guanaco  and  Maracaibo  fields  should  not  become  heavy  pro- 
ducers. It  was  the  new  company's  intention  to  deliver  oil  in 
tank  steamers  to  La  Guayra  and  pump  it  up  to  Caracas  where 
fuel  is  exceedingly  high.  Coal  costs  fifteen  dollars  a  ton  there, 
almost  valuable  enough  to  use  for  jewelry! 

I, became  so  interested  in  this  part  of  the  country  that  I 
decided  to  voyage  up  the  Orinoco  River.  The  Orinoco  is  one 
of  the  great  rivers  of  the  world,  exceeded  only  in  volume  in 
the  New  World  by  the  Amazon,  La  Plata,  Mississippi  and  St. 
Lawrence.  It  ranks  ninth  among  world  rivers.  Its  head- 
waters are  away  up  on  the  Brazilian  border  and  many  of  its 
tributaries  rise  in  the  Colombian  highlands.  It  is  navigable  for 
stern  wheelers  to  Ciudad  Bolivar,  260  miles  from  the  sea,  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year,  small  vessels  going  far  beyond  this  point. 
If  the  bar  at  one  of  the  thirty-six  mouths  of  the  river  could  be 
dredged,  a  barrier  of  rocks  up  the  river  removed,  and  the  max- 
imum depth  of  fifteen  feet  made  thirty,  a  great  future  would 
be  insured  for  the  four  thousand  miles  of  river  and  tributaries. 
Free  navigation  of  the  stream  would,  of  course,  be  necessary. 


VENEZUELA  605 

Now  there  are  few  steamers  on  the  Orinoco,  all  operated  by  a 
Venezuelan  company. 

The  delta  is  a  weird  maze  of  waters.  Even  the  Warrau 
Indian  in  his  "dugout"  canoe  sometimes  is  lost  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  its  crisscross  channels.  The  great  river,  sweeping  along 
like  a  millrace,  is  filling  the  Gulf  of  Paria  with  mud.  The 
delta  islands  are  not  very  habitable,  but  perhaps  the  time  will 
come  when  they  will  form  tracts  of  fertile  land.  Indians  alone 
can  live  in  these  mosquito  swamps.  They  probably  owe  their 
lives  to  the  fact  that  no  one  has  ever  cared  to  evict  them  from 
their  wilderness. 

Little  but  bird  life  is  seen  in  these  channels,  among  them 


ON   A  SHORE  OF  THE  ORINOCO  RIVER. 

being  the  snowy  white  heron,  (the  egret  of  commerce)  ;  the 
flame-colored  ibis,  and  the  macaws  of  brilliant  plumage.  Farther 
up  the  river  on  the  mainland  there  are  monkeys  of  all  kinds, 
among  them  the  terrific  red  howler,  which  wakens  the  forest 
with  its  roar. 

"Any  sloths  or  porcupines  ?"  I  asked  the  captain. 

"Why,  the  woods  are  full  of  'em.  But  they're  such  a  tame 
lot,  catching  them  is  about  as  much  sport  as  picking  black- 
berries !" 

The  jaguar,  the  South  American  "tiger"  (really  a  leopard), 
roams  through  this  forest,  hunting  the  poor,  harmless  tapir, 
the  largest  but  perhaps  the  gentlest  of  the  wild  kindred.  Coiled 


6o6  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTPI  AMERICA 


INDIANS  OF  THE  UPPER  ORINOCO  RIVER, 
VENEZUELA. 

in  the  branches,  overhanging  the  river,  are  snakes — black, 
spotted  and  yellow  fellows — and  I  saw  one  water  boa,  fourteen 
feet  long.  The  mate  "landed"  it  with  a  rifle.  Alligators  by 
the  thousands ;  turtles  of  great  size  and  electric  eels,  carrying 
storage  batteries  with  them  strong  enough  to  discourage  river 
bathing,  also  appear  in  this  "Natural  History  Collection:"  For 
real  excitement  there  are  the  Caribe  fish !  They  swim  in 
schools,  armed  with  three  rows  of  saw-like  teeth,  attacking  fish, 
animal  or  man  that  may  come  their  way. 

To  the  left,  going  up  stream,  is  the  Venezuelan  Guiana,  that 
El  Dorado  which  has  lured  so  many  men  to  their  doom.    The 


VENEZUELA  607 

Spanish,  Dutch,  French  and  British  all  sought  and  fought  for 
gold  here  in  long-ago  days.  Even  in  our  own  time,  this  section 
has  been  under  controversy.  England  claimed  her  right  to  it 
on  the  ground  of  history,  exploration  and  occupation.  (Mostly 
"occupation"  since  she  had  been  slowly  shifting  her  colonial 
border.)  Venezuela's  claim  rested  on  old  Spanish  maps.  It 
meant  the  control  of  the  Orinoco,  and  Venezuela  won.  This 
section  of  the  republic  is  little  known,  yet  a  few  of  its  mines  are 
famous — El  Callao,  for  instance,  which  produced  over  $12,- 
000,000  before  its  vein  was  lost.  These  mineral  lands  have  a 
great  future. 

We  stopped  at  Imataca,  fifty  miles  up  the  river.  This  is 
one  of  the  great  iron  deposits  of  the  globe.  There  had  been 
a  great  scramble  for  its  possession  and  the  Pierson  group  of 
Canadian  capitalists  had  secured  it.  The  company  was  plan- 
ning gigantic  development.  There  were  over  200,000  tons  of 
seventy-five  per  cent  pure  magnetic  Bessemer  ore  exposed  in 
one  outcrop,  and  I  hardly  dare  print  the  expert's  figures  of  the 
ore  held  in  reserve.  Shipment  to  the  States  had  already  begun. 
Electric  power  was  to  be  used  in  all  the  mining  operations. 

Our  little  steamer  had  to  make  frequent  stops  to  take  on 
firewood  from  measured  piles  stacked  on  shore.  I  saw  banana 
plantations  at  some  of  these  wood  stations  and  also  the  in- 
evitable manioc  from  which  the  native  cassava  bread  is  made. 
There  was  an  occasional  patch  of  sugar-cane.  The  method  of 
extracting  the  juice  is  primitive — an  ox  mill  equipped  with 
wooden  rollers.  Boiling  the  juice  seems  to  be  the  beginning 
and  end  of  the  sugar  manufacture.  The  Government  is  assist- 
ing this  industry  by  prohibiting  the  importation  of  sugar. 

These  river  folk  use  the  Orinoco  as  their  only  highway  and 
regard  Caracas  as  the  great  distant  metropolis.  Their  geography 
is  hazy  beyond  the  capital.  This  whole  fertile  country  is  sparsely 
populated.  There  are  no  cities,  merely  hamlets,  until  Ciudad 
Bolivar  is  reached.  The  shores  of  the  great  river  lack  people 
and  capital. 

Ciudad  Bolivar  is  the  fifth  city  of  Venezuela,  its  population 
being  14,000.  Originally  it  was  a  Spanish  town  called  Santo 
Thome;  later  it  was  called  Angostura,  meaning  the  Narrows, 
for  at  this  point  the  river  is  confined  in  a  deep  channel.  In 


6o8 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


HOUSE  WHERE  GENERAL  SIMON   BOLIVAR,   THE  LIBERATOR,   LIVED 
IN    CIUDAD    BOLIVAR,    VENEZUELA. 

1846  the  name  was  changed  to  Ciudad  Bolivar — city  of  Bolivar. 
It  was  here  that  the  famous  "Congress  of  Angostura"  was  held 
in  1813  when  Bolivar  formed  his  "Great  Republic  of  Colom- 
bia." 

The  well  known  bitters — "Angostura,"  an  important  in- 
gredient in  the  American  cocktail — were  formerly  made  here. 
(The  factory  has  been  moved  to  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad.)  The 
herbs  used  are  found  in  the  Orinoco  forest.  It  is  the  one  Ven- 
ezuelan product  "on  which  the  sun  never  sets."  Two  impor- 
tant exports  of  Ciudad  Bolivar  are  balata  and  tonka  beans.  Few 
Americans  have  heard  of  either. 

Balata  is  a  near  relative  of  rubber.  It  is  used  principally 
in  automobile  tires.  Last  year  $2,000,000  worth  of  balata  was 
shipped  from  the  Orinoco,  besides  $900,000  of  pure  "Para" 
rubber.  But  much  of  the  Venezuelan  rubber  gathered  near  the 
Brazilian  border  reaches  its  market  via  Brazil  through  the 
Cassiquiare,  that  strange  natural  canal  which  connects  the  Ori- 
noco and  Amazon  River  systems.  The  balata  gatherers  are 
criminally  careless,  felling,  rather  than  tapping,  the  trees.  In 


VENEZUELA  609 

this  way  many  valuable  trees  are  left  to  rot,  for  the  balata,  be- 
sides yielding  gum,  is  a  fine  timber  tree. 

For  many  years  it  was  understood  that  the  half-million 
dollars'  worth  of  tonka  beans  shipped  annually  to  the  United 
States  were  used,  in  a  pulverized  form,  in  snuff  and  tobacco  to 
give  them  "bouquet."  It  was  also  known  that  soap  and  per- 
fumery manufacturers  made  use  of  the  fragrant  beans.  But 
it  took  Dr.  Wiley's  Pure  Food  Law  to  expose  the  fact  that 
Tonka  had  been  masquerading  as  "Pure  Vanilla  Extract." 
Now  you  will  notice  that  your  vanilla  label  reads,  "Extract  of 
Vanilla  and  Tonka  Bean."  These  beans  are  the  dried  seeds  of 
a  fruit  tree  native  to  northern  South  America.  The  first  speci- 
men was  supposed  to  have  reached  Europe  from  Tonka  in 
French  Cochin  China,  hence  the  name. 

There  are  in  this  beautiful  and  bountiful  country  many 
things  of  interest  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  mention  for 
want  of  space.  Like  many  of  the  South  American  countries,  a 
volume  might  be  written  about  Venezuela's  political  history 
alone.  From  its  earliest  years  it  has  been  swayed  and  shaken 
by  revolutions,  but  as  time  goes  on  the  convulsions  are  less 
frequent  and  less  violent.  Without  question  it  will  ultimately 
become  a  great  and  prosperous  nation  with  a  well-organized 
and  stable  Government.  May  this  be  her  happy  lot ! 


39 


COLOMBIA 

Area,  435,000  square  miles,  or  about  the  area  of  the  States  of 
Neiv  York,  Ohio,  Texas,  Alabama  and  South  Carolina 
combined — Coast  line  about  1,300  miles,  both  upon  the  At- 
lantic and  the  Pacific  Oceans — Chief  natural  resources, 
coffee,  rubber,  sugar,  cacao,  tobacco,  valuable  woods,  vege- 
table ivory,  Panama  hats,  salt,  pelts,  cattle,  orchids,  gold, 
silver,  platinum,  copper,  coal,  petroleum,  marble,  fruits, 
precious  stones — Total  exports  and  imports  in  ion,  $34,- 
000,000 — Exports  to  the  United  States,  ion,  $8,004,460; 
imports  from  the  United  States,  $4,005,034 — Standing 
army,  7,000 — Navy,  n  ships — Capital,  Bogota,  population, 
130,000 — Total  population  of  Colombia,  4,500,000. 


i 


CHAPTER  XL. 

HOME  OF  ALLIGATORS  AND  ORCHIDS. 

T  IS  to  be  regretted  that  Colombia  did  not  retain  her  old 
name  of  "New  Granada"  given  her  by  Jimenez  de  Quesada 
in  remembrance  of  his  birthplace  in  Andalusia,  Spain.  Now, 
with  British  Columbia,  "Hail  Columbia,"  "Columbia,  Gem  of 
the  Ocean,"  and  a  few  others,  this  belated  attempt  to  stamp  the 
discoverer's  name  on  some  portion  of  terra  firma  is  a  bit  con- 
fusing. The  South  American  republic,  "United  States  of  Co- 
lombia," is  spelled  with  an  "o"  from  "Colon,"  while  all  the 
others  are  derived  from  the  English  version  of  the  great 
Admiral's  name — "Columbus." 

At  present  writing  and  for  some  time  past,  the  United  States 
of  Colombia  has  been  giving  the  United  States  of  America 
"Hail  Columbia"  over  the  Panama  Canal  question.  From  the 
grandstand,  the  plays  were  as  follows:  Uncle  Sam  wanted 
the  chance  to  complete  the  canal  begun  and  abandoned  by  the 
French.  Colombia  owned  the  land.  The  trade  was  on !  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  two  countries  agreed  on  terms  and  conditions 
and  the  proceeding  was  moving  fairly  smooth,  when — "Bang !" 
Colombia's  Congress  rejected  the  whole  transaction !  Panama, 
naturally  desirous  that  Uncle  Sam  begin  spending  money  on  the 

610 


COLOMBIA 


611 


great  ditch,  talked  of  quitting  Mother  Colombia  and  setting  up 
housekeeping  for  herself. 

Of  course  Colombia  had  an  army  large  enough  to  prevent 
any  such  occurrence,  but  the  wise  men  up  in  Bogota  assured 
the  people  that  Uncle  Sam,  recalling  the  cause  of  his  own  Civil 
War,  would  spank  the  rebellious  child  and  send  her  back  home. 
Panama  announced  her  independence,  and  Uncle  Sam  called, 
as  scheduled ;  but,  instead  of  acting  "true  to  label,"  told  the 
rebellious  one  to  remain  just  where  she  was,  and  announced 
that  Mother  Colombia  was  to  leave  her  alone.  When  the  people 
of  Colombia  "got  the  message,"  they  started  out  with  machetes 
after  the  wise  men !  Said  wise  men  "took  to  the  tall  timber"- 
otherwise  scattered  themselves  over  the  capitals  of  Europe. 
Result — Panama  remained  a  republic  and  Uncle  Sam  is  digging 
the  ditch. 

Although  the  Colombian  Government,  officially,  has  calmed 
down  a  bit  since  1903,  and  sent  a  diplomatic  representative  to 
Washington,  with  the  hope  of  having  the  whole  matter  placed 
before  The  Hague  Tribunal,  the  masses  are  still  unreconciled. 
It  was  the  fear  of  an  uprising  which  prevented  Colombia  from 


THE  PIER  AT  PUERTO  COLOMBIA,  OCEAN   PORT  OF  BARRANQUILLA, 
EIGHTEEN    MILES  DISTANT. 


6l2 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


sending  an  urgent  invitation  to  Secretary  of  State  Knox  to 
visit  the  country  in  the  spring  of  1912.  It  is  rumored  that 
Uncle  Sam  has  hinted  that  he  may  buy  a  Colombian  island, 
suitable  as  a  coaling  station,  paying  a  most  satisfactory  price 
for  it.  But  Colombia  refuses  the  balm  in  this  form,  still  in- 
cludes Panama  in  her  list  of  States  and  keeps  up  an  incessant 
cry  for  adjustment  at  The  Hague. 

Undoubtedly  the  benefit  of  the  canal  to  Colombia  will  be 


COLOMBIAN    MAN-OF-WAR       CARTAGENA/     FORMERLY    PRIVATE 
YACHT  OF  THE  SULTAN  OF  MOROCCO. 

enormous.  She  has  a  long  coast  on  the  Pacific  and  on  the 
Caribbean,  about  1,300  miles  on  each  coast.  She  is  as  large  as 
France,  Germany  and  Belgium  combined,  but  sparsely  inhab- 
ited, having  only  4,500,000  people.  She  is  rich  in  natural  re- 
sources, especially  in  minerals.  The  completion  of  the  canal 
will  bring  the  shipping  of  the  world  in  sight  of  her  shores  and 
development  will  surely  follow. 

The  front  door  of  the  country,  Puerto  Colombia,  looks  like 


COLOMBIA  613 

the  back  yard!  This  Caribbean  port,  known  of  old  as  Saba- 
nilla,  is  in  the  delta  of  the  Magdalena  River.  It  consists  of  a 
tremendously  long  pier,  which  cost  $300,000,  and  a  desolate, 
wind-swept  little  village.  From  here  there  is  an  hour's  train 
ride,  through  an  uninteresting  country,  to  Barranquilla,  me- 
tropolis of  the  Lower  Magdalena.  A  roundabout,  but  far 
more  attractive  way  of  reaching  Barranquilla,  is  via  the  Carib- 
bean port  of  Santa  Marta,  east  of  Puerto  Colombia.  Santa 
Marta  is  a  picturesque  little  place  and  one  of  the  oldest  settle- 
ments on  the  Spanish  Main,  having  been  founded  in  1525.  Its 
harbor  is  one  of  the  safest  on  the  Caribbean,  but  rather  con- 
tracted in  area.  Behind  the  town  the  hills  terrace  up  to  the 
snowy  "Sierra  Nevada  de  Santa  Marta,"  which  towers  nearly 
17,000  feet  above  sea  level. 

The  nature  of  the  country  here  varies  with  the  season. 
During  the  me  nths  of  rain,  it  is  semi-tropical ;  in  the  dry  season, 
semi-arid.  The  trade  of  Santa  Marta  is  largely  due  to  the 
United  Fruit  Company,  whose  banana  plantations  extend  for 
miles  beyond  the  town.  An  English  company  has  built  a 
ninety-mile  railway  into  the  interior,  enabling  the  crop  of 
bananas  to  reach  the  steamer's  hold.  The  fruit  is  raised  with 
irrigation  and  is  of  very  good  quality,  although  the  drought  of 
1911-12  demonstrated  that  moisture  in  the  air  is  necessary  for 
the  production  of  prime  stock;  simply  "bathing  the  feet"  will 
not  suffice.  The  annual  banana  crop  of  this  region  has  already 
passed  the  million-dollar  mark  and  is  still  going  up. 

To  reach  Barranquilla  from  Santa  Marta,  I  rode  out  on  the 
"Banana  Railway"  for  twenty-five  miles  to  the  town  of  Cienaga, 
which  has  a  larger  population  than  Santa  Marta,  as  it  is  the 
home  of  many  of  the  employes  on  the  plantations  and  the  rail- 
road. It  was  hard  to  believe  that  this  thatched  settlement 
boasted  of  25,000  inhabitants.  Here  at  nightfall  I  boarded  a 
rickety  little  steamer  for  the  voyage  through  the  canos  of  the 
Magdalena  delta.  The  craft  was  two-decked,  stern-wheeled, 
slab-sided  and  wheezy — the  type  used  on  the  Mississippi  in  "the 
good  old  steamboat  days."  The  lower  deck  was  filled  with 
wood  for  fuel,  the  supply  to  be  replenished  during  the  voyage. 
A  motley  assembly  of  passengers  crowded  the  upper  deck, 
mostly  negroes.  I  was  given  the  only  cabin,  which  rightfully 


614  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


NATIVES  IN  DUGOUT  SEEN   IN  THE   SHADOWS  OF  THE  SHORE  AS 

WE   PASSED. 

belonged  to  the  captain  (a  white  man  from  Jamaica)  whose 
old  father  occupied  the  proud  position  of  purser. 

We  were  late  in  starting  and  crossed  the  wide  lagoon  of 
Cienaga  Grande  by  moonlight,  only  to  stick  fast  on  a  mud  bank 
on  the  other  side.  Due  to  reach  the  Magdalena  and  Barran- 
quilla  early  next  morning,  I  wakened  to  find  that  we  were  still 
in  the  canos.  For  hours  we  wound  through  these  narrow, 
shallow  streams  with  a  forest  of  mangroves  on  either  side. 
Natives  now  and  then,  poling  their  laden  canoes,  water  fowl 
and  alligators,  alone  broke  the  monotony  of  the  shores.  The 
killing  of  alligators  for  their  skins  has  become  an  important  in- 
dustry in  this  part  of  Colombia.  An  American  firm  in  Newark, 
N.  J.,  which  practically  controls  the  world's  market,  took  30,000 
Colombian  skins  last  year.  A  new  use  for  the  leather  has  been 
found  in  the  upholstering  of  automobile  and  carriage  seats  and 
the  resulting  demand  may  be  enormous. 

At  present  the  Colombian  skins  come  from  not  over  three 
hundred  miles  of  canos  and  lagoons  on  the  Lower  Magdalena, 
and  as  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  over  four  thousand  miles 
of  the  "alligator-bearing  streams"  in  the  country,  the  industry 


COLOMBIA 


is  capable  of  almost  unlimited  expansion ;  nor  is  there  a  possi- 
bility of  an  early  extinction  of  the  reptiles,  as  every  full-grown 
female  lays  over  one  hundred  eggs  yearly.     From  1905  to  1910, 
an  exclusive  concession  was  granted  to  an  American  who  es- 
tablished over  twenty  gath- 
ering stations.    Since  1910, 
the  "profession"  has  been 
open  to  all  comers,  and  it 
is   expected  that  the   pro- 
duction   will    soon    reach 
100,000  skins  per  year. 

While  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  varieties  of  alligators 
in  Colombian  waters,  only 
two  possess  skins  of  com- 
mercial value.  Among 
those  "rejected  for  cause" 
is  the  needle-snouted  fel- 
low, of  which  many  speci- 
mens, over  twenty- four  feet 
long  and  six  feet  in  dia- 
meter, have  been  found. 
These  large  hides  tan  ad- 
mirably, but,  unfortunately, 
they  have  a  pip  mark  in  the 
center  of  each  scale  which, 
considered  a  flaw,  prevents 
their  reincarnation  into 
suitcases.  They  are  only 
bought,  once  in  a  while,  as 
curiosities.  As  alligator 
leather  fetches  a  compara- 
tively high  price,  the  tan- 
ners pay  $1.50  for  a  skin 
from  seven  to  ten  feet  long. 
It  must  be  "green  salted," 
as  stiff,  sun-dried  skins  are 
worthless. 

The   army   in    Colombia 

A  DEFUNCT  RESIDENT  OF  THE  MAGDALEN/ 
DELTA. 


6i6 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


has  the  monopoly  of  the  use  of  rifles,  so  the  alligator  hunters 
are  forced  to  adopt  other  methods.  During  the  high-water 
season  the  reptiles  rush  on  to  the  inundated  flats,  preying  on 
ascending  fish.  As  the  waters  lower,  they  crowd  back  through 
the  connecting  channels  and  the  hunters,  in  their  turn,  play 
havoc  with  the  alligators.  Riding  on  the  end  of  a  long,  nar- 
row canoe,  with  uplifted  harpoon,  the  clever,  agile  hunter  is 
wheeled  about  by  his  no  less  expert  mate  in  the  stern,  and  woe 
to  the  hapless  'gator  chancing  to  rise  within  thirty  feet  of  the 
spearman,  for  his  doom  is  sealed.  Often  the  hunter  will  not 


SCENE  ON   THE  LOWER   MAGDALENA  RIVER. 


wait  for  his  prey  to  come  to  the  surface,  but,  guided  by  a 
streak  of  bubbles  from  the  breathing  animal,  will  send  his 
spear  flying  with  deadly  aim,  and  a  large  specimen  will  be 
hauled  to  the  bank  to  be  stunned  by  a  blow  from  an  ax. 
When  the  flats  are  drained  at  low  water,  hundreds  of  alligators 
remain  stuck  in  the  slime  over  which  their  short  paws  cannot 
drag  their  heavy  bodies.  It  is  then  that  hunters  make  "record 
catches." 

In  the  main  rivers,  the  reptiles  are  not  molested,  save  by  an 


COLOMBIA 


617 


occasional  pistol  shot  from  a  passing  steamer,  for  the  swift 
current  and  deep  water  holes  afford  them  easy  means  of  escape. 
Every  ounce  of  an  alligator  may  be  turned  into  a  marketable 
product.  The  scrapings  from  the  valuable  hide  can  be  utilized 
in  making  glue.  The  teeth,  a  perfectly  white  ivory  of  medium 
hardness,  are  easily  worked  into  an  endless  variety  of  small 
articles,  such  as  thimbles,  buttons  and  cigar  holders.  The 
grease,  which  constitutes  a  large  percentage  of  the  body,  pro- 
duces a  clear  light  yellow  oil,  resembling  cod  liver  oil,  and  is 
widely  used  by  the  natives  for  pulmonary  diseases. 

The  white,  and  seemingly  palatable,  flesh  is  not  eaten  by  the 
natives,  although  they  relish  the  eggs.  There  is  no  doubt,  how- 
ever, but  that  the  former  could  be  suitably  prepared  for  human 
and  animal  food.  The  bones  could  be  used  as  a  fertilizer  and 
the  musk-secreting  glands  are  certainly  of  value.  The  popular 
belief  that  the  parent  alligators  devour  their  young  has  no 
foundation.  It  probably  originated  from  the  fact  that  the 
solicitous  mother  helps  the  newly  born  'gator  to  swim  by  open- 
ing her  mouth  and  allowing  the  little  one  to  use  the  lower  jaw 
as  a  diving  stand.  There  is  no  more  ferocious  creature  in  de- 
fense of  its  young  than  the  female  alligator. 

We  came  through  the  last  of  the  canos  at  noon  and  reached 
the  wide,  muddy  Magdalena,  the  great  Colombian  highway, 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  THE   MAGDALENA  RIVER. 


6i8 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


TWISTING    THE    BULL  S    TAIL,       AN    AMATEUR    BULL-FIGHT    IN 

BARRANQUILLA,   COLOMBIA.       SUCH   BULL-FIGHTS  ARE 

HELD  DURING   THE   CARNIVAL   SEASON. 

which  affords  practically  the  only  means  of  transportation  to 
the  north.  Across  the  river  lay  Barranquilla,  the  most  im- 
portant town,  commercially,  of  the  republic. 

Barranquilla  lies  fifteen  miles  from  the  bar  which  prevents 
access  from  the  ocean  to  the  river,  and  this  want  of  direct  com- 
munication is  supplied  by  eighteen  miles  of  rail  to  the  pier  at 
Puerto  Colombia.  The  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Magdalena  has 
been  formed  by  the  sea  precipitating  the  mud  held  in  solution 
in  the  river  water,  and  this  choking  has  been  artificially  assisted 
by  revolutionists.  Today  only  shallow-draft  sailing  vessels  can 
enter  the  river,  but  the  Government  has  extensive  plans  for 
dredging  and  the  construction  of  jetties  similar  to  those  at  the 
delta  of  the  Mississippi.  Money  for  the  actual  work  is  not  as 
yet  forthcoming. 

Barranquilla  is  an  ugly,  colorless  town  built  on  the  sands. 
It  is  modern,  with  no  historical  associations.  The  streets  are 


COLOMBIA 


619 


wide,  but  unpaved,  and  often  inches  deep  in  sand,  which,  with 
the  ever-prevalent  wind,  makes  walking  or  driving  most  dis- 
agreeable. The  quintas,  or  villas,  on  the  higher  land  back  of 
the  town,  form  the  only  attractive  feature.  Here  the  mer- 
chants, many  of  them  Germans,  have  their  homes. 

On  the  busy  water-front  I  found  "a  flock  of  river  boats,"  all 
built  on  the  same  pattern — double-decked,  wood-burning, 
paddle-wheeled  affairs,  over  half  of  them  made  in  Wilmington, 


PARADE  CALLED  "THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  FLOWERS/'  DURING 
CARNIVAL  SEASON,  BARRANQUILLA,  COLOMBIA. 

Del.     They  navigate  the  Magdalena,  the  Cauca  and  the  Nichi 

Rivers. 

Last  year  Barranquilla  handled  just  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
total  trade  of  $34,000,000,  with  the  other  nine  ports  of  entry 
trailing  behind.  Still,  she  is  having  her  troubles,  as  the  bay  at 
Puerto  Colombia  is  fast  filling  with  silt,  and  unless  dredging 
begins  within  a  few  years,  a  good  portion  of  her  trade  may  be 


COLOMBIA 


621 


diverted  to  Cartagena.  Cartagena  is  next  in  importance  to 
Barranquilla,  commercially,  and  is  reached  from  Puerto  Co- 
lombia by  ocean  steamer  in  five  or  six  hours,  or  by  sixty-five 
miles  of  river  travel  to  the  village  of  Calamar,  where  connection 
is  made  with  the  Cartagena-Magdalena  Railway  for  another 
sixty-five  miles. 


i 


CHURCH  OF  SAN  PEDRO  DE  CLAVER,  ONE  OF  THE  OLDEST  ON  THE 
CONTINENT,   CARTAGENA,   COLOMBIA. 

The  fine  land-locked  harbor  of  Cartagena  is  enormously 
superior  to  Puerto  Colombia's  open  roadstead,  and  attempts 
have  been  made  to  restore  to  the  city  its  ancient  prosperity. 
The  American  capitalists  who  built  the  Cartagena-Magdalena 


622 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Railway  gave  up  the  fight  and  turned  the  road  over  to  an 
English  company,  which  in  turn  has  called  in  Colombian  man- 
agement in  the  hope  of  developing  business.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, as  a  commercial  port,  present  or  future,  that  the  traveler 
regards  Cartagena ;  rather  as  a  relic  of  Colonial  days,  it  being 
the  most  perfectly  preserved  of  the  walled  cities  of  the  sixteenth 
century  to  be  found  in  the  New  World.  For  more  than  three 
centuries  its  walls  have  stood,  unbroken,  its  ancient  arched  por- 
tals still  forming  the  only  entrance,  although  a  railway  is  just 
outside  its  gates. 

Within  the  walls,  the  narrow,  balcony-hung   streets   still 
wear  a   medieval   air,  and  one   recalls   the   days  of   Spanish 


A  SUBURB  OF  CARTAGENA,   COLOMBIA.       THE  GREAT  BUILDING  ON 

THE  HILL  WAS  ONCE  A  SPANISH   FORT.       IT  IS 

NOW  A  CONVENT. 


COLOMBIA 


623 


supremacy  in  South  America,  when  spurred  officers  and  com- 
manders of  galleons  clanked  noisily  down  these  thoroughfares. 
Cartagena's  splendid  harbor  was  then  the  haven  for  Spain's 
famous  treasure  ships,  and  to  guard  this  treasure,  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  galleons,  walls  and  forts  costing  $30,000,000  were 
erected,  the  walls,  in  many  places,  forty  feet  thick.  Probably 
no  other  port  in  America  has  witnessed  such  desperate  fighting 
so  persistently  continued.  It  was  attacked  by  the  French,  by 
the  English  under  Drake,  and  later  under  Vernon.  Lawrence 
Washington,  brother  of  George  Washington,  was  with  Admiral 
Vernon  in  the  siege  of  Cartagena.  It  was  in  honor  of  the 
Admiral  that  our  "Mount  Vernon"  was  named. 

It  was  repeatedly  attacked  by  pirates  and  indeed,  for  years, 
was  in  a  state  of  continuous  siege.  Eight  years  ago,  during  a 
civil  war,  it  was  besieged,  and  for  the  first  time  met  modern 
cannon  directed  from  a  man-of-war,  but  the  great  walls  were 
unshaken  and  the  quaint  old  city  still  stands,  undisturbed. 


PRISON  AT  CARTAGENA,  COLOMBIA,  WHICH 
WAS  FORMERLY  THE  CHURCH 
OF  SAN  JOSE. 


CHAPTER  XLL 

EXPLORING  THE  INTERIOR. 

I  HAD  occasion  to  send  a  wire  to  Bogota  while  in  Cartagena 
and  found  that  the  Government  operates  all  lines,  the  rate 
being  one  cent  a  word  for  the  first  ten  words  to  any  part  of  the 
country.  But  the  eleventh  word  is  two  cents,  the  twelfth  three, 
and  so  on !  It  seems  that  the  low  rate  per  word  caused  mer- 
chants to  send  regular  lettergrams,  monopolizing  the  wires,  so 
the  Government  applied  just  the  reverse  action  to  our  American 
methods. 

Paper  money  has  practically  displaced  gold  and  silver  in 
Colombia.  For  a  twenty-dollar  gold-piece  I  received  a  bale  of 
dirty  paper  bills  large  enough  to  stuff  a  lounge.  These  peso 
bills  were  worth  par  one  dollar  gold  in  1874,  exchange  advancing 
until  it  reached  the  high  water  mark,  189  pesos  to  one  dollar 
gold  in  1902.  Since  then  exchange  has  fallen,  and  today  the 
Colombian  dollar  bill  is  worth  a  little  less  than  a  cent  in  our 
money. 

A  story  is  told  of  an  American  prospector,  just  landed  in  the 
country,  who  admired  a  spirited  horse  and  offered  the  owner 
three  hundred  dollars  for  it. 

"No,  senorl  Impossible!"  answered  the  Colombian.  ."I 
paid  five  hundred  dollars  yesterday  to  have  him  shod !" 

I  had  brought  a  saddle  with  me,  expecting,  of  course,  to  use 
it  before  reaching  the  capital  of  Colombia,  so  far  distant  from 
the  coast.  Instead,  I  learned  that  the  entire  journey  can  be 
made  by  train  and  steamer.  From  Cartagena  I  returned  by  rail 
to  the  Magdalena  River,  passing  the  famous  "Dique" — half 
canal,  half  river — which  connects  the  Magdalena  with  the  sea 
near  Cartagena.  This  canal  was  originally  opened  by  Philip  II. 
of  Spain,  and  was  in  use  until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  it  choked  with  silt  and  remained  closed  until 
thirty  years  ago,  when  it  was  again  reopened  for  sailing  craft. 

624 


COLOMBIA 


621 


At  Calamar,  I  boarded  a  typical  "Lower  River"  boat  and 
started  up  river  to  La  Dorada,  480  miles  to  the  north.  Here  I 
changed  to  a  railway  around  the  rapids.  Then  another  transfer 
to  an  "Upper  River"  steamer,  ninety-three  miles  to  Girardot, 
where  I  took  a  train  for  Bogota,  109  miles  across  the  plateau.  I 
had  been  assured  in  Calamar  that  I  would  reach  Bogota  in  nine 
days,  but  delays,  caused  by  low  water,  were  numerous,  and  by 
the  time  we  had  struggled  clear .  of  the  last  mud  bank  at 
Girardot,  eighteen  days  had  lapsed ! 


CAMBOA  ON  THE  UPPER  MAGDALENA  RIVER. 

Eighteen  fairly  exciting  days,  for  we  carried  a  stock  of  dyna- 
mite as  part  of  our  cargo,  and  with  frequent  collisions  with 
shoals  and  sunken  trees,  were  often  in  danger  of  being  "blown 
to  kingdom  come."  The  steamers  left  much  to  be  desired— not 
overly  clean  and  with  impossible  food;  but,  in  spite  of  its 
drawbacks,  the  man  who  has  made  up  his  mind  not  to  look  for 
luxury  will  recall  this  journey  with  pleasure,  from  the  tropics 
and  sea  level  to  ever-perpetual  spring,  9,000  feet  higher. 

The  Lower  River  is  not  especially  interesting,  but  beyond 
40 


626 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


the  rapids  the  Upper  River  scenery  becomes  impressive,  there 
being  magnificent  forests  teeming  with  vegetable  and  animal 
life.  Here  we  found  a  new  type  of  river  craft,  the  champ  an, 
much  in  use  by  the  natives,  requiring  from  fifteen  to  eighteen 
men  to  punt  it  against  the  current.  I  was  reminded  of  the 
galleys  of  old!  A  semi-circular  roof  of  bamboo  at  one  end 
affords  protection  from  sun  and  rain.  These  picturesque  boats 
are  sometimes  called  into  use  when  a  steamer  strands  on  a  sand 
bank,  but,  at  best,  they  are  far  from  comfortable. 


NATIVES  AND   HUT  ON   THE   UPPER   MAGDALENA  RIVER. 


Among  my  fellow  passengers  were  several  officers  of  the 
Colombian  army,  looking  very  smart  and,  of  course,  traveling 
first-class.  The  troop  of  soldiers  as  "deckers"  down  below 
was  rather  a  woe-begone  lot.  It  was  not  kind  of  me  to  recall 
the  story  of  a  Colombian  revolution  and  the  enlisting  officer 
who  sent  the  following  note  to  his  superior : 

"Dear  and  Honored  Colonel:  By  this  boat  I  am  sending  you  forty 
volunteers.  Please  return  the  ropes!" 


COLOMBIA 


627 


The  standing  army  numbers  7,000,  and  the  Government 
keeps  the  men  in  good  physical  training  by  putting  them  at  work 
repairing  roads.  We  had  a  number  of  foreigners  on  board. 
Three  naturalists  from  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory in  New  York  left  the  boat  halfway  up  river  to  start  on  a 
six  months'  trip  collecting  and  studying  the  strange  animal  life 
of  the  jungle.  There  was  an  artist  in  the  party  and,  assisted 
by  his  sketches,  they  planned  to  reproduce  a  number  of  Colom- 
bian forest  scenes,  in  exact  detail,  for  the  museum,  using  the 
birds  which  they  obtained,  thus  bringing  the  wilds  back  to 
civilization. 

Another  interesting  companion  for  a  part  of  the  voyage  was 
an  American  orchid  collector.  He  had  been  in  the  country  the 
year  before  and  was  returning  to  secure  a  second  lot  of  air 
plants.  He  told  me  that  he  had  had  no  difficulty  in  securing 
the  rare  plants.  His  method  of  working  was  to  show  the  In- 
dians a  sample  of  the  exact  flower  desired,  naming  the  price  he 
would  pay,  and  the  natives 
would  come  into  camp 
laden.  His  difficulty  was 
that  of  transporting  the 
plants,  and  indeed  prac- 
tically everything  in  the 
country  is  inaccessible.  The 
plants  were  carried  on  the 
backs  of  Indians  for  long 
distances  to  the  river  ports 
and  shipped  to  England 
and  America.  He  said  he 
had  caused  some  4,000 
trees  to  be  felled  to  secure 
10,000  plants  and  had  re- 
cently sold  one  of  the  rarest 
for  $6,000. 

The  vanilla  bean  of  com- 
merce, it  seems,  is  an  or- 
chid, and  is  the  only  one  of 
the  family  which  produces 
anything  of  value  outside 


TYPES  OF  NATIVES  ENGAGED  IN 

HUNTING  ORCHIDS, 

COLOMBIA. 


COLOMBIA  629 

of  the  blossom.  He  said  that  some  of  his  Indians  in  the  past 
season  declared  that,  in  one  part  of  the  forest,  the  perfume 
from  the  orchids  was  so  strong  as  to  overpower  many  who 
entered.  While  he  did  not  take  much  stock  in  the  yarn,  he  in- 
tended to  investigate  the  region  himself. 

We  passed  many  rubber  trees  which  were  tapped,  but  many 
grow  so  far  from  the  river  that  their  exploitation  has  not  been 
undertaken.  Last  year  less  than  $400,000  worth  of  rubber  was 
exported. 

There  is  a  great  demand  for  cariniana  wood,  which  is  known 
to  us  as  "Colombian  mahogany."  It  is  not  a  mahogany  at  all, 
being  of  an  altogether  different  family ;  but,  of  the  twenty  and 
more  woods  used  as  a  substitute,  it  is  by  far  the  best  imitation. 
It  does  not  warp  or  shrink,  is  beautifully  figured  and  takes  a 
high  polish,  hence  there  seems  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be 
employed  for  all  the  purposes  for  which  true  mahogany  is  used. 
The  great  popularity  of  the  true  mahogany  as  a  furniture  and 
finishing  wood  has  caused  a  steady  depletion  of  the  available 
supply.  Few  realize  that  the  consumption  of  material  passing 
as  mahogany  in  the  rrjarkets  amounts  to  forty  million  feet  per 
annum,  while  the  cut  of  true  mahogany  is  only  eighteen  million 
feet.  Also  all  about  the  Caribbean  a  great  deal  of  cedar  is  cut 
and  shipped  to  the  United  States  to  be  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  cigar  boxes. 

To  those  who  appreciate  really  fine  coffee,  that  obtained  in 
Colombia,  even  on  the  river  steamers,  is  a  revelation.  It  is 
delicious  and  is  served  at  all  hours.  There  is  not  one  depart- 
ment in  the  republic  in  which  coffee  is  not  grown.  It  is  the  lead- 
ing product,  valued  last  season  at  $6,000,000.  All  the  tobacco 
grown  goes  to  Germany  ($500,000  worth)  and  the  vegetable 
ivory  to  Germany  and  the  United  States. 

Over  $800,000  worth  of  so-called  "Panama"  hats  were 
woven  in  Colombia  in  1911,  and  we  Americans  wore  practically 
all  of  them.  The  salt  monopoly  belongs  to  the  Government 
and,  next  to  the  custom  dues,  is  the  most  important  item  on  the 
"receipt  side"  of  the  budget.  The  coast  districts  produce  salt 
by  evaporation,  but  the  main  source  of  supply  is  Cipaquia,  about 
thirty  miles  from  Bogota.  Here  12,000  tons  of  rock  salt  are 
mined  annually. 


630 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


Formerly  the  Government  owned  the  hides  on  all  cattle 
killed  in  the  country,  but  this  law  has  been  abolished,  the  Gov- 
ernment now  placing  a  head  tax  on  all  cattle  killed  or  exported ; 
$1,500,000  worth  of  cattle  and  hides  were  exported  in  1911. 

I  found  Bogota  most  attractively  situated  on  a  high  plain 
overshadowed  by  mountains.  The  climate  is  ideal,  save  for  an 
occasional  fog  straying  up  from  the  lower  valleys.  At  9,000 
feet  above  the  sea  level,  the  heart  works  at  extra  speed  in  the 


PRESIDENT  S  PALACE,   BOGOTA,  COLOMBIA. 

rarefied  air,  and  the  human  machine  wears  out  quicker  than 
with  "lowland  folk."     Very  old  people  are  seldom  seen  here. 

The  population  is  about  130,000  and  the  negro  blood,  so 
well  represented  in  the  coast  cities,  is  not  often  met  with  in  the 
capital.  The  city  has  a  national  university,  an  observatory,  a 
picture  gallery  and  several  learned  institutions.  It  has  the  repu- 
tation of  being  the  most  cultured  of  the  South  American  cities — 
the  Boston  of  the  other  half  of  America — and  possesses  a  dis- 
tinct national  literature  of  its  own. 


COLOMBIA 


631 


STATUE  OF  BOLIVAR  IN  INDEPENDENCE  PARK,  BOGOTA,  COLOMBIA. 

The  name  Bogota  is  from  "Bacata,"  the  old  capital  of  the 
Chibchas  which  the  founder,  Quesada,  discovered  about  twelve 
miles  from  the  present  city.  The  Chibchas,  or  Muyscas,  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  these  highlands,  were  among  the  most 
civilized  tribes  of  the  New  World  prior  to  the  Conquest.  Al- 
though not  so  far  advanced  as  the  Quichuas,  or  Incas,  of  Peru, 
they  constructed  paved  highways,  threw  bridges  across  chasms, 
erected  stone  shrines  to  their  gods,  carved  stone  effigies,  were 
skilled  weavers  and  potters,  and  even  used  currency  in  the 
form  of  gold  disks.  They  perhaps  excelled  all  other  tribes  in 
the  working  of  gold  into  fantastic  ornaments — work  which  is 
admired  today  in  many  of  our  great  museums.  In  Bogota  and 
throughout  the  uplands  of  Colombia  I  saw  many  Indians  of 
Chibcha  blood,  but  they  have  lost  their  ancient  language  and 
speak  Spanish. 

Until  recently  the  journey  to  Bogota  was  made  by  saddle 
from  the  river,  and  the  inaccessibility  of  the  city  helped  to  pre- 
serve its  peculiar  charm.  It  now  has  many  up-to-date  improve- 
ments and  has  recently  acquired  possession  of  the  electric  street 
railway,  installed  some  years  ago  by  American  capitalists  from 


ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


New  Jersey.  The  original  rate  of  fare  on  this  road  was  five 
cents,  but  as  paper  money  dropped  in  value  the  American  com- 
pany secured  permission  from  the  President  of  Colombia  to  ad- 
vance the  rate  in  paper  to  keep  it  up  to  the  former  value.  Then 
the  excitement  began ! 


THE  CATHEDRAL  AT  BOGOTA,  COLOMBIA. 


COLOMBIA 


633 


MUNICIPAL  THEATER,    BOGOTA,    COLOMBIA. 

First  the  motormen  and  conductors  were  taken  from  the 
cars  and  rolled  in  the  mud.  All  the  car  windows  were  broken 
and  the  tracks  torn  up.  Then  the  populace  moved  on  to  the 
office  of  the  managers  of  the  line.  Here  the  United  States  min- 
ister to  Colombia  stepped  in  and  checked  the  mob  bent  on  mur- 
der. The  managers,  finding  it  impossible  to  operate  a  line  with- 
out motormen,  conductors  or  tracks,  packed  their  grips  and 
started  for  the  office  of  the  State  Department  in  Washington, 
D.  C.  After  a  long  delay,  the  city  of  Bogota  bought  the  Ameri- 
can line  for  $800,000,  and  the  municipality  now  sells  tickets  at 
the  lowest  price  on  record.  Municipal  ownership  advocates 
should  keep  an  eye  on  the  capital  of  Colombia. 


634  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 


CALLE  REAL,  A  PRINCIPAL  STREET  IN  BOGOTA,  COLOMBIA. 

The  great  waterfall  of  Tequendama,  about  twenty  miles 
from  the  city,  is  the  best  known  "natural  show"  in  the  country. 
The  rim  of  the  basin  which  once  formed  a  great  highland  lake 
here  is  pierced  by  a  river  which  has  forced  its  way  through  the 
hills.  For  three  or  four  miles  it  bounds  and  foams  in  rapids 
and  then  hurls  itself  down  in  one  tremendous  leap  of  nearly  500 
feet,  three  times  the  height  of  Niagara. 

While  Colombia's  agricultural  and  forest  products  lead  at 
present  in  value,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  future  will  show 
her  vast  mineral  deposits  to  be  her  greatest  asset.  Even  at 
present  the  mineral  production  is  important.  Over  $3,000,000 
worth  of  gold  was  produced  in  1911.  It  is  estimated  that  over 
$600,000,000  worth  of  gold  and  silver  has  been  taken  out  since 
the  Conquest. 

Platinum  was  first  discovered  in  Colombia,  and  the  country's 
output  in  this  metal  is  now  second  only  to  Russia.  It  is  found 
mixed  with  gold.  Copper  ores  are  abundant,  and  when  better 
methods  of  transportation  are  provided,  the  country  will  rank 


COLOMBIA  635 

as  a  great  copper  producer.  Coal  is  being  mined  in  many  sec- 
tions of  the  republic  and  Bogota  itself  rests  on  an  enormous 
coal  deposit. 

Petroleum  deposits  are  extensive  and  conveniently  located, 
fortunately.  A  marble  deposit  covering  many  square  miles 
has  recently  been  discovered  near  Santa  Marta  on  the  Caribbean. 
This  solid  mountain  of  marble,  equal  to  the  Italian  product, 
rises  from  the  very  seashore,  and  is  the  largest  unworked  high- 
grade  field  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  But  above  all,  Colombia  is 
famed  for  its  emeralds.  Nearly  all  the  emeralds  mined  today 
are  from  this  country.  The  Chibchas  of  old  mined  emeralds 
here  and  greatly  prized  these  gems. 

Among  the  many  reported  sites  of  the  city  of  El  Dorado, 
where  the  "gilded  man"  ruled,  the  shore  of  Lake  Guatavita, 
some  thirty  miles  from  Bogota,  seems  the  most  likely.  The 
legend  relates  that  the  chief  of  the  tribe  was  smeared  with  a 
resinous  substance  and  powdered  with  gold  dust.  On  a  raft 
heaped  with  gold  and  emeralds  he  was  towed  to  the  center  of 
the  sacred  lake,  where,  amid  the  joyous  cries  of  his  subjects, 
he  offered  the  tribute  of  golden  ornaments  and  gems  to  the 
gods  who  dwelt  beneath  the  waters.  An  English  company  has 
recently  dredged  this  very  lake  and  recovered,  so  they  say, 
some  of  the  treasure.  I  rather  suspect  it  is  a  "salted"  lake. 

While  emeralds  are  found  in  Siberia  and  in  India,  Colombia 
supplies  ninety  per  cent  of  the  world's  demand.  The  Govern- 
ment owns  the  mines  and  has  leased  them  to  an  English  com- 
pany for  twenty  years.  The  Muzo  group,  which  are  the  most 
important,  are  difficult  of  access,  situated  seventy-five  miles 
from  Bogota.  Of  the  area  of  140,000  acres,  only  fifty  have 
been  exploited,  so  we  shall  not  "run  out  of  emeralds"  for  many 
a  year  to  come. 

Other  groups  of  mines  worked  by  the  ancients  are  also  held 
by  the  Government  for  future  exploitation.  Colombia's  emerald 
mines  have  repeatedly  been  placed  in  pawn  by  the  Government 
in  Europe  as  security  for  foreign  loans.  The  Muzo  mine  is 
situated  in  the  bowl  of  an  extinct  volcano.  Laborers  with  crow- 
bars break  out  the  face  of  the  crater  leaving  a  trail  of  green 
quartz  which  contains  the  crystals.  The  quartz  is  cut  with  the 
greatest  care,  for  the  gems  found  in  the  matrix  are  most  fragile. 


COLOMBIA 


637 


The  debris  is  then  dropped  into  a  sluiceway,  the  water  drained 
off  and  the  sediment  searched  for  the  deep  green  gems.  It  was 
just  in  this  method  that  the  most  valuable  emerald  ever  discov- 
ered was  mined.  It  is  a  perfect  six-sided  crystal  weighing  nine 
ounces  and  belongs  to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire.  The  famous 
Hope  emerald,  weighing  six  ounces,  also  came  from  Colombia. 
The  Government  has  declared  it  unlawful  to  hold  uncut  emer- 
alds, hoping  in  this  way  to  maintain  the  monopoly,  but  this  will 
be  a  difficult  matter,  as  stones  are  sometimes  found  on  private 
property. 


JUANCHITO  MARKET,  LOADING  ANIMALS  FROM   BALSA,  OR 
BAMBOO,  RAFTS,  ON  CAUCA  RIVER,  COLOMBIA. 

On  leaving  Bogota,  I  did  not  return  to  the  coast  via  the 
Magdalena,  but  rode  over  to  the  west  to  the  Cauca  Valley  where 
there  is  a  charming  little  town  called  Cali  founded  by  the 
Spaniards  in  1536.  To  the  south,  reached  by  overland  travel, 
is  Madellin,  an  important  city,  the  center  of  the  gold  interest. 
From  Cali  I  reached  the  Pacific  coast  by  rail,  sailing  homeward 
bound  from  the  port  of  Buenaventura,  the  only  town  of  any  im- 
portance on  the  western  seaboard. 

So  here  I  reluctantly  take  leave  both  of  the  reader  and  of 


638  ILLUSTRATED  SOUTH  AMERICA 

South  America.  For  the  time  and  attention  given  me  by  the 
former,  I  can  only  say,  as  one  does  after  delivering  a  banquet 
speech,  "Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  thank  you ;"  to  the  latter,  and 
the  people  who  have  framed  its  republics,  I  admiringly  "take  off 
my  hat."  Yours  is  a  mighty  continent,  one  of  the  Creator's 
greatest  pieces  of  handiwork,  and  I  predict  that  you  will  not 
fail  to  reach  in  final  development  the  highest  standard  of  pros- 
perity and  civilization. 

As  a  last  word  to  the  reader,  I  would  like  to  say  that  I  am 
organizing  an  expedition  to  visit  and  investigate  our  lately 
acquired  American  colonies — Porto  Rico,  Panama,  Hawaii, 
Guam,  Samoa,  the  great  Philippine  group  of  islands ;  also  our 
dependencies,  Cuba,  Haiti  and  Santo  Domingo.  These  collect- 
ively comprise  some  3,600  islands  and  over  500,000,000  acres 
of  land.  With  photographs  and  recorded  observations  of  life 
and  scenes  in  these  colonies  and  dependencies,  it  is  my  purpose 
to  produce  during  1913  a  companion  volume  to  this  book  which 
I  hope  may  prove  welcome  and  valuable  to  American  readers. 


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